MarvelDC Crossover 3
by Mandalore Jaig
Summary: The cause of Wraith's exile has returned, and after everything he's faced, this man is the only thing Wraith fears, because just like in his own world he has come to bring a warped form of justice. Only now, it has come to the Marvel and DC universe simultaneously, and across their galaxies. So the question remains, how do you stop an evil that thinks it's good?


Wraith reappeared in his office, fuming. Not only had he lost a prison that had cost him millions to make, been unable to save Dormammu, but he'd been unable to capture Sam. He stood there until he was calmed down. He keyed for his secretary, "Ms. Risman?"

"Yes?" Wraith never called her by her last name. It was one of their codes that something was serious.

"Initiate Plan A."

"Yes, sir." Wraith hung up. She shivered slightly. Plan A, for having such a simple name, had a lot behind it. It involved contacting several heroes and villains, getting them to take orders from Wraith, possibly for an extended period of time, to stop an enemy who none of them had encountered before. She brought up the file on her computer,

Christopher Nord, Earth 92131, a.k.a. Maverick

May Parker, Earth 982, a.k.a. Spider-girl

Felicia Hardy, Earth 92131, a.k.a. Black Cat

Buchanan Barnes, Earth 616 a.k.a. Winter Soldier

Patrick Mulligan, Earth 616, a.k.a. Toxin

Clarice Ferguson, Earth 295, a.k.a. Blink

Victor Creed, Earth 295, a.k.a. Sabretooth

Tony Masters, Earth 616, a.k.a. Taskmaster

Artemis Crock, Earth 16, a.k.a. Artemis

Terry McGinnis, Earth DCAU, a.k.a. Batman

Dick Grayson, Earth DCAU, a.k.a. Nightwing

Jack Ryder,Earth DCAU, a.k.a. the Creeper,

Vic Sage, Earth DCAU, a. Question,

Helena Bertinelli, Earth DCAU, a.k.a. Huntress

Cassandra Cain, New Earth, a.k. Bat

Slade Wilson, New Earth, a.k.a. Deathstroke

Lawrence Crock, Earth 16, a.k.a. Sportsmaster

Sandra Wu-San, New Earth, a.k.a. Lady Shiva

Jade Nguyen, Earth 16, a.k.a. Cheshire

It was a long list, and most of them weren't even in this universe let alone this earth. It was going to be some expensive phone calls.

They'd come, but Wraith figured they would. He hadn't made their obedience to him a requirement of his help. He'd come across all of them during his travels. Some had serious problems that he simply couldn't ignore. He'd offered his help and they'd accepted. Others he'd done some small favor for, like going on patrol for them so that they could finally have a night off for a date. All of them felt that they either owed him something or at least that his need was great enough to drop what they were doing to come and help him.

He walked into the meeting room. Seated around a conference table were all of the heroes from the Marvel universes were there, and Dark Claw. "Thank you all for coming. We are witnessing the beginning of a worldwide threat." Wraith pulled up photos of Sam on the projector screen.

"Who is he?" asked Winter Soldier.

"His name is Sam. More importantly, his abilities are magical based. He can create portals, cause doors to unlock, affect the world around him in minor ways, that sort of thing. But his main threat comes from his being able to absorb the powers of nearby people."

"What's his motivation?" asked Toxin, who was still in his police officer's uniform.

"He's here to kill all the villains."

"And that's a problem, why?" asked Maverick with some attitude.

Wraith gave him a pained look. "Besides the _obvious_ immorality of this action, the problem lies in how I think he'll do it."

"He'll manipulate all the villain groups into killing each other," said a voice from the shadow in the room.

"That's right, Mr. Wayne. I can't be sure, but…" He brought up a video. It was utter destruction. There was what was left of a prison. Bodies littered all over. There were several destroyed police cars. "It'll cause chaos all over."

"Where was this?" asked Blink.

"It doesn't matter," said Wraith quickly. "Mr. Barnes, I need you in Europe using your ties to SHIELD and anything I can feed you to look up leads." He nodded. "Mr. Nord, I want you waiting in the wings as back up." Wraith turned to Dark Claw. "Mr. Wayne, I want you to look through all of the data I have, find anything I may have overlooked, see if you can find any connections." He scanned the room. "The rest of you, I want you to get to know each other, start training together. I don't know how long we'll have until he surfaces, but I hope you'll stick with this until it's done." No one said anything. "On a final note, I'd prefer you to go unnoticed as much as possible. Those of you from other realities, we don't need your versions in this reality getting wind of you. It would raise unfortunate questions. That goes for the rest of you too. Try to keep a low profile."

He set up Dark Claw in a room. It had a powerful computer inside, connected to all of Wraith's databases, most of SHIELD's and several other government agencies.

He lent Winter Soldier a plane, and showed Maverick to a ready room. The rest of the Marvel team he brought to a training center on board.

Wraith went to the command bridge. "Was a hellicarrier necessary, sir?" asked Debra.

Wraith smirked in spite of himself. He shrugged. "A mobile base is a useful card to have, and this way I can bring all my guns to bear at once.

"Isn't Fury going to notice?"

"He already knows. I want his help on this." He considered the question a moment. "Besides, so far, the cloaking plates seem to be working. Not bad for a wreck I found on a dead planet."

"That makes me feel so secure."

"Thems the breaks, kid." Wraith's eyes turned to the security feeds. "Looks like the DC team is here." He turned, and walked towards the door. "Keep her in the air." Debra faked a salute.

Wraith came to the meeting room. "Glad you all could make it." Artemis was almost crying. He eyed her, but his face was emotionless.

"I still don't trust you," said the Question.

"That's good, Mr. Sage, because I need you to keep tabs on everyone, even me if you like. You're also going to help me see if our perpetrator has any presence in the universe I'll be sending you to."

"And just who is our perpetrator?" asked Nightwing.

"His name is Sam," Wraith brought up video of him attacking the base. "His powers are magic in nature. He is capable of producing force fields, unlocking doors, that sort of thing. But his main threat comes in his ability to replicate any powers of people nearby."

"So I'm assuming that none of us have powers then?" asked Terry McGinnis.

"That's correct," said the Question before Wraith could speak. Wraith raised an eye in mild irritation, but let it go.

"So, what do you want of us?" asked Artemis.

"Mostly I just want you to keep your eyes open. I don't know if he will have entered that dimension, but I suspect that's where he'll be going next. I'd like you in the mean time to start training together and get used to each other. I believe you all know each other, or at least versions of each other."

"So, what's this guy's M.O.?" asked the Creeper, barely suppressing a chuckle.

"He kills villains."

"Which villains?" asked Huntress.

"All of them," answered Wraith.

Huntress whistled. "Well, I'm impressed. So you want us to give him directions?"

Wraith brought up the footage he had shown to the Marvel team. "He will unleash destruction upon the world. He won't simply hunt them down one at a time. He'll have them fight each other. Civilians will inevitably get caught in the cross fire. Although, I do believe he will try to avoid this."

"How refreshing. A villain with a heart," replied Huntress.

"So you just want us to keep an eye out for this guy? How long do you think that will be?" asked Nightwing.

"I have no idea. Like I said, I don't know if he'll make a move on that reality. I only know he's been snooping around this one. He's already eliminated one of the villains I had in custody. I think he'll strike again."

"Fair enough, when do we set out, boss?" asked Artemis.

Wraith looked around. "Is everyone alright with this?" There were nods and shrugs of acceptance. "Good. Thank you. You'll be sent to one of my buildings where you'll be sent to a training facility. If you need or want any equipment, it will be provided." He nodded to them all and left the room.

"Sir," came Debra's voice on his earpiece. "The villains are getting restless."

"Of course they are. Thank you, Debra. Please come in as soon as you are available." He walked to an elevator and went to yet another conference room.

Inside was Cheshire, Deathstroke, Lady Shiva, and Sportmaster. "What's the game here?" asked Deathstroke. "These aren't the Cheshire and Sportsmaster that I know."

"My apologies, I was unaware you had all arrived." Wraith ignored the question.

"We were all told you have a job for us?" asked Cheshire.

"Yes, but it's more of a deal."

"Well, spit it out," said Sportsmaster. "I don't like deals. I like money, but if you make it worth my while, we'll see."

"There's a new villain that may be in town. I'm pretty sure that he's planning on killing you all."

There was a moment of silence. "Are you threatening me?" asked Deathstroke.

"No. I don't need a nameless, faceless enemy for that." Debra came in behind him. Without turning back he jabbed a thumb behind him. "I have her for that."

She was dressed in similar armor to Wraiths, matte black. Her claws were extended, the ones in her feet making noise when they struck the floor. They all noticed how there were slight scratch marks in the steel floor from the minor pressure she was applying. She came to a halt a step behind Wraith, standing at the ready position.

"So what's the deal?" asked Lady Shiva, completely unperturbed.

"The deal, Ms. Wu-San, is that I'd prefer you all not to die. You have all shown some moral fiber at one time or another, and I'm hoping you'll show some now. If you agree to follow my orders, I'm going to place you all in the reality that I think he'll strike next."

"How does that benefit us?" asked Deathstroke.

"Because if you don't agree, I'll put you all back in your home dimensions. If I don't stop him, he'll go through each dimension and still kill you. This way you'll have the benefit of having some forewarning. I will give you all the relevant data that I have, and keep you up to date. In return, I expect you to keep your noses clean while we work together, and obey my every command. I in turn, will get you all amnesty in your home dimensions, with the understanding that if you so much as jaywalk again, your files will become unsealed and you will be convicted of your crimes. And Debra here, will be the one to make sure you serve your time."

"I'm not impressed," said Deathstroke. "You haven't proven there is a threat. You haven't made this worth my while. You haven't told us who you are, and your little helper here doesn't scare me." There were murmurs of agreement from the others.

"But Mr. Wilson," said Wraith, his hands clenched behind his back, his head lowered, his voice going very cold, "there's another side to this." They were all suddenly frozen in their seats, their lungs and heart still. Their chairs moved on their own accord and their head and eyes were forced to face him. "Should you choose not to help me, and I manage to succeed and survive this, I will personally come after you, to see that justice is served." He paused. "Am I understood?" He released them. They glared at him, but nodded. "Good. Now, to show my good faith in you, I will outfit you with anything that you require, along with any information I have on your target."

"Alive or dead?" asked Sportsmaster.

Wraith paused a moment. "Alive, if it won't cost any other lives, but dead if necessary. He made that choice long ago." He turned to Deathstroke. "Mr. Wilson, you will be in charge."

"What happens if we don't get him?" asked Lady Shiva.

"I will still consider your services rendered to fulfill you part of the bargain given that you make an attempt I deem to be genuine. I will not blame you if he defeats you or he doesn't show up." They nodded. "Good. Then we're in agreement. You'll be sent to central Europe. Debra will show you to the teleporter."

Wraith went to the communications room. He made a call. I man wearing a ghoulish costume with a skeleton mask appeared on the main view screen. "Wraith? What's going on? We just talked a week ago. I don't have any new information for you."

Wraith shook his head. "That's not why I'm calling. I need you to keep you ears open. Ask around quietly if you can without raising suspicions. There's a new player going around killing villains. Watch out for yourself too, Mr. Masters." Taskmaster nodded, and Wraith ended the communication.

Wraith hated the waiting. After all the years of sending out teams, training heroes, and watching them fight, he had never gotten used to not being in the fray himself. Occasionally he played chess with Batman during the days. The Dark Knight was never available during the night. He'd never won, but he felt that he gained a little more wisdom every time they played.

Now of course, he didn't have that luxury, and there wasn't anyone in this universe that could compare to the World's Greatest detective. Besides, he was busy going through the feed of information from his own sources and SHIELD.

It had already been a few weeks, and he hadn't been able to find anything significant. None of his informants had turned up anything. The only good thing about it was that it gave his people more time to get used to each other. He read another file. Taskmaster had given him some information. HYDRA had requested more soldiers. It was the best he had at the moment. He called up Winter Soldier. "Mr. Barnes, you're up."

"What's the mission?" He was currently in France in one of the underworld hang outs.

"HYDRA seems to be gearing up for something. They just recruited several hundred troops. I've got some possible locations tagged for operation centers of theirs. I'm sending them to you now."

"Hmmm…" Winter Soldier looked over the locations. "With the heightened SHIELD presence in America, I'm betting either Europe or Russia, but probably Ukraine. They had some sort of training facility in Chernobyl. They made a deal with the government."

"Why has SHIELD not taken it out yet?"

"I'm not sure they know about it. The radiation makes it hard to scan for it. Plus, it's unlikely that they care much about it. It's not a major operation center. It's just where their new recruits come in. I think I'll start there."

"Sounds good. I'll have Mr. Nord on standby."

"Thanks. Barnes out."

Winter Soldier made his way to Ukraine. He landed in an empty field nearby the city, and landed his plane. He used the ship's passive scans to see if he could pick up anything, but the radiation made it almost impossible to make anything out. "Guess I'll have to do this the hard way." He wasn't looking forward to going outside where the plane wouldn't shield him, but a small dosage wouldn't hurt him too much.

Suddenly he saw a few transports take off, bearing the skull symbol of Hydra. "Oh, look, a lead." He sent an image of it to Wraith and followed them from a distance. They landed nearby in Pripyat. Barnes landed a ways away from them and followed them on foot. He sent a quick message to Wraith on his status, and went in. He wasn't really use to working with a partner. He'd done it before, but it wasn't the norm. He was first and foremost an assassin. But Wraith had ordered no executions. And he owed Wraith. He had helped him disappear and stay under SHIELD's radar.

From the top of a nearby building, he watched the HYDRA agents secure a dilapidated warehouse and most of them entered. Then a helicopter approached. It landed in the warehouse's parking lot and out stepped the Red Skull. "No way," whispered Barnes to himself. He turned on a video camera on his helmet, to give Wraith a live feed. The Skull looked around and entered the warehouse.  
Suddenly dropships appeared and began to strafe the area. "What the heck?" Barnes took cover behind an air-conditioning unit. The new ships matched ones used by AIM.

Troops in yellow suits began to repel out of the dropships. They began to fight the remaining HYDRA soldiers. The HYDRA soldiers were intent on keeping the AIM troops out of the warehouse.

There was a whirring noise as more HYDRA ships came to reinforce their brothers. It wasn't looking good for the AIM troops. They were now pinned between the HYDRA troops in the warehouse and the reinforcements that formed a perimeter around them.

The opposing sides' dropships began to dogfight above Barnes. "This is crazy," he thought to himself.

Suddenly, MODOK himself exited one of the dropships, moments before it was hit by a HYDRA missile. He began to engage the HYDRA soldiers, forcing his way into the warehouse while taking out large numbers of them.

Barnes pulled out a pair of goggles from his belt. He scanned the warehouse. He noticed a cube inside emitting strange energy readings. A small warning appeared on the bottom of the goggles, stating that energy readings were extremely unstable. Barnes looked around at the situation, and tried to come up with an explanation. Suddenly his eyes went wide. He nearly fell off of the building in his hurry back to his plane.

He ran into a HYDRA soldier as he turned a corner. He quickly incapacitated the man. He was fairly small, so Barnes threw him over his shoulder and hurried to his plane. He had just gotten a few miles away when a tremendous explosion took out Pripyat. Moments later another took out Chernobyl.

Barnes threw on the afterburner to outrun the shockwave. He and his hostage made it back to the Helicarrier an hour or so later.

Bob, Agent of Hydra, woke up in a room with a spotlight directly on his face. His eyes roamed the room, but he couldn't see much due to the light. He was sitting in a very uncomfortable chair with his hands cuffed behind him. There was a plain metal desk in front of him. "Hail, Hydra," he yelled rather weakly.

"What were you doing there?" asked a voice behind the light.

"Where?"

"Don't play stupid. The warehouse in Pripyat."

"Ah…" Bob stalled. He was cowardly through and through, but he had no idea who he was dealing with.

Suddenly, there was a "snikt" sound and three metal blades protruding from a fist stabbed into the table.

"TALK!" growled the voice.

"Ah! We were sent in to recover the Cosmic Cube. It was stolen from our base. That's all I've got, Mr. Wolverine, sir!"

"We'll see…" There was the sound of a door opening and slamming shut.

Maverick was getting a more interesting story from the AIM agent he had captured. Wraith had sent him in from the first message he'd gotten from Barnes. But with all of the chaos in the air from the dropships, he couldn't get close without getting spotted. When he saw Barnes taking off he headed out too. He spotted an AIM dropship that had chased a HYDRA ship away from the battle. It had shot it down and was returning when the explosions happened. Maverick shot it down and picked up the crew, one of whom currently spilling his guts.

"This guy shows up and shows what a good thief he is. He does some jobs for us, first basic tech, and then some real impressive stuff, you know? Then he says that he can get us the Cosmic Cube. MODOK could hardly contain himself. So the guy heads out and tells us when and where to meet him. He says that HYDRA is right on his tail and to bring back up."

"What was his name?" asked Maverick.

"Ah, I think it was Sam."

Wraith turned to Darkclaw. "So it was a trap. Sam set them up, and took them both out." They were in the security room watching the footage from the interrogations.

Darkclaw never took his eyes off the monitor. "It's more complicated than that. This took long term planning. He had to set up a relationship with AIM to get them to come where he told them. He had to find out where the Cube was and where the Red Skull was. He had to plant the bombs, both in the warehouse and in the HYDRA base. With both of their leaders dead and the majority of their forces, both groups will probably disintegrate. It was a clever plan, with multiple stages designed to draw in both parties after something that they both want." He was silent a moment. "The real question is, where is the Cube?"

Wraith's face hardened. Something as powerful as the Cosmic Cube in the hands of Sam would be terrible.

Dr. Doom was deep in China. No one lived in this area. It was too arid even for the nomads. But that didn't stop some people. There was an ancient looking temple. But Doom knew it wasn't that old. The cloaking device that hid it from the satellites wasn't even five years old. He walked towards the temple. He raised his hands, and a force field that had previously been invisible appeared. He made a sweeping motion with his hands and it evaporated. "Now, Doombots."

Exact copies of him began to appear, making their way towards the temple. They made it to the steps when a voice boomed out, "That's far enough, Victor. What do you want?"

The lead Doombot responded, "I have come for your rings, Mandarin."

There was laughter from inside. A beam raced out of the darkness of the doorway at the top of the stairs and destroyed the robot. "Your copies have no magical auras, Victor, which is why I assume you came at all. No robot could have defused my magical shield so easily. Do you think that I would give up my rings?" The Mandarin appeared in the doorway.

"I did not," said Doom, standing at the back of his forces. "But nor do I have any desire to destroy you. We both know that you can simply summon your rings after I leave with them."

"Come out with it, Victor. What is it that you are proposing?"

"I think someone is trying to use me. I want to make sure it was not you. I recently found a spell for resurrecting my mother, something that it is known I've been seeking for many years. The spell is plausible, but the only power source that will work for it is your rings. It seems a bit suspicious."

"And you suspect what? That I would propose this?"

"I do not know. Perhaps the spell itself is a trap. Perhaps coming here at all is. Perhaps the spell is real. In any case I wanted to know the truth."

"You villains are the suspicious sort," said a voice. "I will offer this only once. Surrender and offer no resistance, and I will make your ends short and painless."

"No one orders, Dr. Doom!" an energy field appeared around him.

The Mandarin's rings twinkled in the desert light. "I can sense you, interloper. Come out and face me."

"Very well." A young man appeared in jeans and a t-shirt. He made a movement with his hand and all of the Mandarin's rings disappeared with their fingers inside small black portals. The Mandarin screamed at his mutilated hands.

"Sir," said Debra from the command center of the Helicarrier. "We're getting in a report from a source about some kind of battle in China. There's about fifty destroyed Doombots and some kind of temple that looks like the Mandarin's handiwork. There are two bodies. They appear to be the Mandarin's and Victor Von Doom's."

Wraith put hand to his face and let out a sigh. "Your man," is moving fast said Darkclaw.

"That's not all," said Debra suddenly. "We've got incoming bogies. " She looked at another screen. "And a communication." She pulled it up on the main screen.

"This is Norman Osborn, Director of HAMMER. You will cease all movement and actions, and prepare to be boarded."

"Debra, please get our people ready. I doubt Osborn will listen to reason, but comply to his demands for now." She nodded, and Wraith walked out towards the flight deck, changing his appearance from black armor to a business suit with no apparent effort. It still made Debra shudder how easily he could do that

Norman Osborn appeared in his Iron Patriot armor, surrounded by his Dark Avengers. HAMMER drops ships surrounded the Helicarrier. "By my authority as Director of Hammer, I am seizing your vessel and placing you, and all of your crew, under arrest."

"So you want my ship. Is that what this is all about?"

"You have worked outside of the law for too long. Did you really think that you could remain hidden from the likes of me?"

Wraith ignored the question. Osborn had apparently become aware of at least some of his activities. "May I see your warrant?"

"I don't need a warrant." He began to motion the Dark Avengers to take control of the ship.

"Ah, then you are here without any real authority, outside the jurisdiction of the US. Therefore, I'm under no obligation to obey your orders. I'm afraid you'll have to leave."

Osborn turned to him from directing his troops. "Do you really think you can stop me? You're a business man, with some hired, B rate heroes."

Wraith shook his head. Osborn wasn't going to listen to him. This was going to get messy. "You are obviously not familiar with sabermetrics, and you should always research your enemies fully before threatening them." Wraith's business suit disappeared and was replaced by his black armor, and members of his team showed themselves from their cover near the conning tower.

Many things then happened simultaneously. Wraith instantly ripped the armor off of Osborn who fell to the flight slid back all along the Helicarrier, revealing its hidden guns, which promptly disabled the dropships. Alec Dalton used his telepathy to attack Sentry. He overloaded his brain with incoming threats. The Sentry also collapsed to the deck. Daken was shot with a carbonadiumbullet to the chest by Winter Soldier who had positioned himself on the conning tower.

Moonstone was being held back by Lorne Lincoln, but he couldn't handle the stress. Once Wraith finished removing Osborn's armor he took over for Lorne, who went to all fours from the effort. Wraith called out, "Mr. Dalton, if you please!" Alec turned his attention to Moonstone, who was also vulnerable to telepathic attacks. She too fell to the deck.

Before Wraith could turn his attention, Mac Gargon made a lunge for him, only to be knocked away by Debra. She popped out all of her claws with a distinctive, _snikt_. "C'mon, handsome. Why don't you pick on someone my size."

That still left Bullseye who had been trading fire with Winter Soldier and Maverick. Toxin moved in to support Debra against Gargon. Black Cat, Sabretooth, and Blink got ready for Ares who was charging across the deck.

Wraith jumped in between them, raising an arm towards both sides. "Whoa!" He turned towards the Olympian. "Ares, we have no fight with you. Osborn has been using you. There is no honor in serving him. We can fight if you push us, but it is not likely that you will win."

Ares seemed to be considering what Wraith was saying. "This battle is lost. What are you offering?"

"I am simply asking you to leave. I can even use someone of your skills in the future, but for now, I'd appreciate it if you spent some time with your son. I know how important that is. I have not seen my children in over twenty years."

Ares seemed to be considering this. "Very well, human. But my price is one duel in the near future." He paused and smiled. "But not to the death."

Wraith nodded. "I accept your terms."

"Very well." With a sound like thunder Ares disappeared.

Wraith turned his attention to the remaining Dark Avengers. Before he could subdue them all of the combatants froze. "What?!" Wraith looked for the source of this change.

"I must say, I've missed your telekinetic powers, Wraith." Sam had appeared on top of the conning tower. "There's nothing quite like it. It has so many uses."

"NO!" Wraith screamed. He knew what was coming next. All of the villains dropped to the deck, dead. Even Osborn and Sentry were dead. Wraith sank to his knees.

"I don't understand why they matter so much to you. In all your time here you don't seem to have learned that they can't be redeemed. Even if they could be, they can't make up for all the crimes they've committed. It's better to remove them before they can hurt anyone else."

"You don't get to make that decision!" Wraith screamed. "You don't get to decide what is moral!"

Sam's forehead creased for a moment. "How is what I do any different than what you do? You are enforcing your morality. I am enforcing mine."

"I didn't make mine up! Mine isn't subjective to me! I am a finite creature. How could I decide what is right or wrong?"

This caught Sam off guard. "What are you saying? That you, and you alone know what is right? That some infinite being told you what is moral?"

Wraith looked down to the deck. "No," he said quietly. "An infinite being came to earth so that all of mankind could know what was moral. I am subject to the law that he established, and so are you, whether you want to admit it or not."

"I don't accept that."

"That's not an argument. This people," Wraith motioned to the bodies around him, "didn't accept yours."

"Whatever. I'm sorry that you got stuck here. In all honesty I didn't know where you went when you followed me through my portal." Sam looked around him. "You're lucky you found a planet at all, much less a habitable one. You seem to have done well for yourself. Do you want to go back to your home reality?" Wraith looked up at him. "Oh, yes. I can take you back. I'm more than willing to. I have no disagreement with you."

"Would you give yourself up, to be tried for your crimes?" Wraith asked quietly.

"What?"

"Would you give yourself up, to be tried for your crimes?"

"I have done nothing wrong! I have stopped villains from hurting innocents!"

"Then I will stay here. I will continue to oppose you."

"You are a fool."

"That may be."

Sam shook his head. "Very well, Wraith. I will leave you here. I won't let you stop me, but nor will I harm you or any other heroes. You aren't my enemies." He disappeared.

Wraith's team was suddenly able to move again. Debra came running up to Wraith and grabbed his hand. She whispered to him, "You okay, Dad?"

Under his helmet he smiled sadly. "I don't know how to beat him. I can't be around to fight him or he'll just copy my powers. We can't predict where he'll hit next and we can't directly fight him with anyone that has powers."

"Well, I know where he is right now." Darkclaw had appeared next to him. He had been manning the ships guns during the attack. Wraith looked up at him. "He's on a talk show."

Wraith, Darkclaw, and Debra met back up on the bridge. Darkclaw brought up the footage. He began to explain it. "The media has picked up on all of the villain deaths lately. Someone leaked them a video of some of the fights. Anonymously, of course. You can clearly see Sam in it. They've been claiming that there must be a new hero who's finally doing what's necessary." Darkclaw grew quiet as the host began to speak.

"And now here he is, ladies and gentlemen, our hero!Someone who gets results!" The host motioned to Sam sitting across from him. The host turned to Sam. "And what is your name?"

"It's Sam."

"No flashy title? No impressive name? Just simply Sam?"

"That's right. I don't believe in putting on airs."

"That's very humble of you. Why aren't you capturing these villains like the other, so-called heroes?"

"Well now, be fair. I'm no better than the other heroes out there. They're trying to save lives too. I just have realized that putting these monsters in prison is very temporary. They come out of these prisons like they're hotels." The audience began to applaud.

Darkclaw turned down the volume, and looked pointedly at Wraith. "So what's the problem?" asked Debra looking between the two of them.

Wraith didn't answer. Darkclaw spoke up. "This isn't the first public event he has been at. He has begun gaining public support. Heroes don't want to touch him for fear of public backlash. There are even rumors in the UN of sending him in to officially intervene when known super villains surface."

"So…?"

"It means that it's going to be harder to take him down. It means that heroes won't be likely to side with us." He looked directly at Debra. "It means that on the surface, he is on the side of what's right and we'll very quickly get labeled as villains. Public opinion has more weight to it than truth."

"Speaking of which," said Darkclaw. "You're going to want to do something with those bodies, and check if Sam killed the HAMMER agents as well. It's too easy to make this look like you killed them."

Debra turned to her computer, "We just got a communication from the Shi'ar. Deathbird, D'Ken, Thanos, and Galactus have all been found dead. They are rather angry at their royalty being slaughtered. A human is suspected. They went to know what we know about it."

Wraith's fists clenched and unclenched.

The phone rang in the Oval Office, the red phone. "Yes, Mr. Putin?" said the president.

"Norman Osborn is dead," said a voice.

"How did you get this number? Who is this?"

"Mr. Wraith."

"Ah, Mordecai, so good to hear from you," said the President sarcastically.

"Only friends call me by my first name, and you are not one of those."

"Your opposition to my candidacy certainly showed that."

"Please, you're a baby killer. But I'm not calling to point out your moral deficiencies, President Obama. You're appointed head of HAMMER is dead. I am sending you the footage of the event."

"Why?"

"To show that I didn't do it."  
"I have some HAMMER agents who are claiming that you fired on them unprovoked."

"Please, Mr. President. You're immoral, not an idiot. We both know they'd lie to cover up their stories."

"They'll claim that you doctored the images."

"True, but I haven't had time to do that, have I?"

"I'll still have to take you into custody." The President was now looking at the footage.

"I know, and I will come of my own accord. But I am requesting that you don't require my incarceration."

"And why would I allow you to go free?"

"Because we both know that I am innocent. I am sure you are aware of at least some of my activities. I don't operate this messily. I certainly don't commit murder, let alone on my own property."

"That's not enough reason."

"Yes, it is. You'd only be justified in pursuing this if I was a threat to the American public. This happened outside of your jurisdiction during an unsanctioned attack. It should be you apologizing to me, even if I had killed them. But if you need another reason, I'm the best chance you have at stopping Sam."

"The new hero?"

"He's not a hero."

"Why would I want him stopped? The super criminal population is down 5% already."

"What constitutes an immoral act, Mr. President?"

"What has that to do with anything? That's subjective."

"No, it's objective, but Sam doesn't think so. He agrees with you. So he will kill anyone that he thinks is more immoral than moral. How good of a person do you think you are, Mr. President? Sam thinks that women's wombs should be safe for children to grow in. He might blame _you_ for the hundreds of thousands of deaths that Planned Parenthood alone perpetuates in the US every year."

"Are you threatening me, Mr. Wraith?"

"No," said a voice inside the office. The President looked up to see Wraith materialize right in front of him. "If I wanted you dead, Mr. President, you'd be dead. I don't condone murder, of any type, no matter who it is."

The President's eyes swept to the cameras as his hand darted for the button under his desk. He was unable to suppress the button.

Wraith continued. "The cameras are being shielded from seeing me or your reaction. My telekinesis can create undetectable mirages. The Secret Service will continue to see you talking on the phone at your desk. And the panic button is easy."

"What do you want?" said the President, slowly putting his hands on his desk.

"It's like I told you. I will turn myself in if you want."

"Just like that?" asked the President incredulously.

"Just like that. You are a legitimate authority, and you would be within your rights for arresting me. I believe in respecting that." Wraith took off his helmet and eyed the President from across the desk. "Or, you can let me stop him, do justice, and not bring charges." The President seemed to consider this. "In either case, the bodies will be brought for the families to bury."

"Why can no one else stop him?"

"His powers make him hard to stop, and easy for him to kill. But I have a plan."

"Very well. For the time being, I will make sure the case is on hold. If you are indeed innocent, as it appears from the footage, you will not be charged."

"Thank you. Goodbye." Wraith disappeared.

The President's brow furrowed. He pushed the panic button. Two seconds later fifteen heavily armed Secret Officers rushed in. Their eyes swept the room. The leader of the group turned to the President after a moment.

"Sir?" he asked.

"Just making sure someone was keeping their word." The President motioned for the other Secret Service officers to leave. He stood an looked out the window. He spoke to the lead officer who remained in the room. "Please raise Mordecai Wraith's threat status to an eight."

"Were we breached?"

"It doesn't matter. Have the Dark Avengers status changed to…being off on a mission, something that they won't be missed for the time being. And put the returning HAMMER agents in isolation. They are not to speak with anyone."

"Yes, sir."

"That will be all."

The Secret Service agent left, as the President continued to look out the window.

Lady Shiva was possibly the most skilled opponent Deathstroke had ever fought. She was fast, strong, cunning, and truly a gifted martial artist. But she'd never gone up against someone like Slade Wilson before. He was faster, stronger, and any minor injuries he received vanished over the course of a minute. And what was worse, he was experienced in fighting martial artists. He knew how they thought during battle. Because of this she was unable to catch him off guard. And she was tiring far faster than he was.

"I think it's time to take a break. I've had enough for today." Slade said, disengaging and putting himself out of striking range. He grabbed a water bottle outside the ring they had been sparring in. He looked over to Sportsmaster and Cheshire. They were sparring with weapons as opposed to hand-to-hand. "Ah family. Always such a shame when they're at odds." An image of his daughter, screaming at him in justified rage flashed through his mind.

"I do not need your sympathies Wilson. Next time we fight it will have an ending." Lady Shiva left the building all together and went to her bunk. Since they were professional assassins who had banded together for an assignment. They each had their own building to bunk in which they loaded down with various traps and escapes. There was absolutely no trust between the four, but they had agreed to work together. So certain accommodations were made by all. Like these sparring sessions. And any intelligence meetings. They'd been on this assignment for 2 months with very thin leads. And Deathstroke hadn't credited his partners with an abundance of brains, so the investigative work was mostly on his back. He'd been told to keep an eye out for villains or groups being used like cat's paws or sent deliberately to their deaths. There had been two incidents in the last month and only one the month before that. But they had been minor. Only about a dozen deaths between all three events and no big names involved. Slade had detected a guiding hand behind each set of deaths but that was on instinct. The was no trail, paper, electronic, or human. Frustrating didn't begin to come close to the situation. Even his legendary patience was wearing thin.

"Hey Deathstroke. Any actionable intelligence?" Sportsmaster asked that question on a regular basis. The answer was always the same.

"Give it a rest, Dad." Cheshire said with more than a little distaste. "I'm sure you'll be the first to know when there's anything worth knowing."

"Nothing for now. If anything things have been far too quiet for the last two weeks." Then Lady Shiva burst through the doors, which of course prompted everyone else to draw various weapons.

"We have a problem." She outlined the message she'd been delivered. Slade's one remaining eye went very large.

"A confrontation between the Secret Six and the Suicide Squad? How is that even possible? They're controlled by the same person." That was a revelation to everyone else. Then Slade's satellite phone went off. The news he heard was also somewhat startling. There was a conflict in Germany between Ra's al Ghul and Vandal Savage that looked to be turning into an all out war. Not to mention the gang wars that had ignited in more than 2 dozen major cities around the world in the span of a few hours.

"Well, there's your actionable intelligence, Dad. But which one should we go for?" Cheshire had donned her mask and was arranging weapons. Sprotsmaster had just finished the same preparations.

"You two try to end the conflict between the Six and the Squad. Be careful, they have some truly heavy hitters. I'll have files to you in 20 minutes. Lady Shiva and I will observe the situation in Germany."

"Observe? What kind of cowards-"Sportsmaster cut his spoken thought short when Slade glared at him.

"They've brought small armies with them. Savage has nearly a thousand religious nutcases who worship murder and think he's Cain. And I believe you and your daughter are familiar with the League of Shadows. I am not getting paid enough to throw myself into the middle of something like that." _Not enough money in the world _he thought to himself. 20 minutes later they departed in separate jets, information distributed to the right people. Lady Shiva was reading the file on the Religion of Crime.

"These people are insane."

"This coming from a woman who has devoted her life to fighting and killing for money and pride. People in our profession don't have a moral high-ground to stand on. Not even the high-ground of mental health." He was the one flying the jet so he wasn't reading anything.

"That changes nothing. These people worship murder for it's own sake. Disgusting." she set the file down and closed her eyes.

"Whereas we do it for money. Or the challenge in your case." Slade said.

"Are you really so petty that you only kill for money?" Lady Shiva asked, surprise and scorn in her voice.

"The money is only important because it's important to other people- a sign of respect via perceived "worth." I do what I do to wield power. And look at me now. World leaders resign at the mere mention of my name." Deathstroke spoke without condescension, even though his opinion of Shiva dropped a few notches.

"And yet you were threatened into this assignment."

"There's always a bigger fish. You just found that out too, didn't you?" That made her jaw tense. She said nothing for some time after that. The jet was fast, only about a 30 minute ride altogether. They landed in the Black Forest. The part of it that was still very much wilderness. The center of the conflict between Savage and Ra's was in the vacinity Tubingen, according to Deathstroke's information.

"Are you certain they are here?" Lady Shiva asked, breaking the silence.

"Informants haven't lied to me since my first year as a mercenary. Kill a few and word gets around." Slade put his mask in place, psychologically shifting gears from social animal to cold blooded mercenary. They proceeded quickly and silently through the forest, neither completely comfortable with the feeling of utter stillness around them, almost as if every living thing in the forest were keeping itself very well hidden. No birds, wolves, not even any insects despite it being the middle of Summer. They'd been running silently for half an hour when sudden instinct told Deathstroke to stop. He ducked behind a tree and motioned for Shiva to do the same. A man in a black coat walked into the clearing just ahead of them, taking no notice of the two assassins. He held out his hand, as if touching a wall. Then he drew his fist back and lashed out at empty air. The impact sounded like a thunderclap and the two assassins saw a spiderweb of cracks appear in midair. He struck again and the cracks formed an opening about 5 feet tall. The man in the coat went through the opening which stayed visible long after he'd gone. Deathstroke went in close for inspection. He walked around the opening and found his position reversed. Whenever he crossed the barrier he was simply turned around. Then he went through the hole that had been made and saw something he hadn't expected. There were a pair of corpses laying just inside, one was stripped of its clothes. The other was wearing the typical black ninja costume that the League of Shadows tended to favor.

"Never look a gift chump in the eye. Lady Shiva, what do you suppose is going on here?"

"We have an interloper who is now posing as one of the League assassins. But what does he want?"

"You're asking the wrong questions. The first question you should have asked is about this force field. It isn't technologically based, it's magic. Which means Talia is here with her father. And since the League was guarding the perimeter of the field they likely arrived first and gained control of the area."

"The question I would like answered is who the interloper is and what does he want? He complicates matters."

"Maybe. But he was a useful pry bar at the very least. Let's go." The forest ended shortly after they crossed the barrier. They both found camouflaging themselves much easier in the urban environment of Freiburg. They were shocked to see that the city had been abandoned. The only people they saw were of one of the two factions. They avoided contact as much as possible, slipping by most of the assassins and cultists unseen. They went to the top of a nearby clock tower and tried to locate the leaders of the factions. That would be where all the interesting events took place, and if they could eavesdrop on the conversation they might learn something valuable. As it turns out, they didn't need the clock tower. A rather large explosion boomed about 10 blocks away. No more than 3 minutes later they were perched in another tall building near the blast area. Ra's had blown a hole in the buried roof a large building. Several ninja were repelling down into the darkness, Ra's and his daughter went in shortly after. They left a few token troops to guard the entrance they had made.

"Shiva, I need you to locate Savage and-. Wait. Is that who I think it is?" Deathstroke saw a ninja approach from one of the buildings.

"He's not the same height or weight as the man in with the hood."

The ninjas guarding the hole made a subtle signal with his hand. The approaching ninja didn't respond, he just kept walking toward them. They motioned for him to remove his mask. His face was one they knew. It was one of the men Ra's had asked to walk the perimeter of the barrier.

"What are you doing here?" The man didn't answer he just kept walking toward them. All 5 had their weapons at the ready. Traitors were not unknown in their organization but they were extremely rare. One of them threw a knife which buried itself in the approaching man's arm. He didn't even flinch. Another moved to engage in close combat. It was all over before Deathstroke could rub his eyes. The ninjas were dead and the supposedly deceased guard was entering the underground chamber.

"Go, find Savage and then follow me in. I'm going to follow the zombie."

"He just turned 3 trained killers into a pile of meat." Shiva said.

"Not bad work. Seen better." Deathstroke had done better as a matter of fact but he was still intrigued by what he'd seen. Humans typically didn't have such skills. He'd been too fast, too fluid. And Deathstroke hadn't seen the sword he used until a fraction of a second before the killing started. Lady Shiva headed back out into the city while Deathstroke dropped into the hole in the Earth that the 600 year old ninja clan leader, powerful sorceress, and possibly undead super killer had also entered. And chances were there was a psychopathic immortal about to follow after him. With a cult of murder worshipers willing to do anything he said. _This is probably not one of my better ideas_ he thought. But he went in anyway.

The architecture of the place looked strange for this part of the world. Roman or Greek architecture, almost perfectly preserved. Or, perhaps newer than he first thought. He found himself in halls of white marble occupied by sculptures and shrouded in the darkness of the underground. That shroud of earthy sleep pulled back ever so slightly by the torchlight of his enemies. His mask provided him with night-vision but he had yet to turn it on. The sight around him had stirred something in Slade. Something he'd long forgotten, a love of beauty for its own sake. But the sentiment lasted only a few moments. He switched on his night vision and the room was revealed in shades of red. Statues of the ancient Greek gods and Norse deities loomed over him, their faces twisted by malice, something the darkness had hidden from him. Ancient beauty tainted by the same malice that had poisoned much of Europe once. Something else caught his eye. All of the statues were carrying spears.

Voices echoed in the dark hall, far off and distorted but still quite loud. He approached in the shadows, trusting the darkness to hide him as it had the faces of the sculptures. When he saw torchlight he turned off his night vision. A group of ninja were surrounding a man in a green cloak and a woman with her hair covering one eye. They stood in front of a stone, marked with blocky symbols.

"Can you open it, daughter?" Ra's asked.

"With enough time anything is possible. The seal is strong, it's make unfamiliar to me. I'll need at least a few hours." He saw her lift a jeweled amulet up to the rock and the symbols glowed blue. She'd picked up some tricks and trinkets from her colleague Faust in the Secret Society, but she was no master in the craft. Her magic came mostly from objects, like the quartz ball she'd used to make her barrier. With her father's money and reach she'd acquired some significant artifacts.

"I will buy you as much time as you need. This prize is very nearly beyond imagining." an explosion threw a screen of marble and dust between Deathstroke and Ra's.

"Well, it appears I've made it in time. Thanks for getting the ball rolling but I'll take it from here." Vandal Savage was a large imposing man dressed in an 18th century European officer uniform.

"Looks like the caveman has arrived with his rabble." Ra's said, accounting for the number and placement of Savage's cultists. They outnumbered him 3 to 1 but his men had superior training and weapons. "Continue daughter. I'll deal with them." His voice was as calm and poised as ever. And underneath that calm was surety. He knew Savage and a group of murderers couldn't win the day. The forces clashed, Ra's leading the way and cutting down his first opponent in the blink of an eye. Deathstroke raised an eyebrow at that. Ra's was as fast and strong as he was, based on what he saw. Another person to keep an eye on. Ra's had cut and slashed his way to Savage in moments. The two long lived humans sized each other up.

"So, he told you about it too?" Savage asked with a mild curiosity.

"Yes. And I did plan for this possibility. He may have been all smiles and pleasantries but I could feel he hated me. But if he thought the two of us would simply kill each other then he is still a bit naïve."

"Or perhaps not." Savage said, looking past Ra's toward the sealed treasure. "Someone else is here."

Deathstroke looked around and saw the man in the black coat immediately. He was approaching Talia from the shadows but simply stood and walked when Savage pointed him out. Then he clapped, four even sounds with long spaces between them.

"Ya know, I was perfectly content with the two of you slaughtering each other. But neither of you are touching that relic. In fact, both of your overly long lives will end right here." with that threat he gained the complete attention of everyone in the cavern. After a moment of shocked silence there was some laughing and mockery from the cultists. They clearly thought the man in black ridiculous. The ninja were not amused, and the man's death became their first priority once he threatened Ra's.

"Young man, I suggest you leave this place. You have much life yet ahead of you, don't throw it away needlessly." Ra's said.

"Or you can stay here and I'll chew the meat from your bones." Savage said.

"The meat from my bones. That sounds like a great idea. Come and try me, Neanderthal!" A scowl appeared on Savage's face. He ordered his cultists to bring the man in the coat to him. "Really? Looks like an object lesson needs to be made of you." Adam Kriticos, Master of the White Tower, snapped his fingers. Then black, shadowy creatures started crawling out of the darkness. They fell upon the cultists with a vengeance, leaving very little behind. The beasts were wrapped in shadows so their exact form was difficult to see. But they were quite large and had claws. That much was apparent to everyone. Deathstroke had moved back further, making sure he wasn't caught in the slaughter. None of the beasts were able to get near Ra's or his men because of a barrier. Talia's work.

Savage had successfully fended off the beasts while his men were being killed. He didn't particularly care. But his chances of getting the relic were getting slimmer by the moment. "Boy, I'm going to dance on your grave for this."

"You're welcome to try. Oh wait. I said I was going to kill you. Can't have word get out I break promises." Adam pulled a knife from inside his coat and flipped it open.

"Boy, if you think you can kill me then you must be unaware of who I am." Adam didn't listen, he simply snapped his wrist and the knife became a katana. Foxfire glowed along the blade's edge as if the sword were eager to cut something.

"All flesh is grass. That is the nature of the world. You may have lived a long time but even you cannot live forever." The sword came down fast, Savage leaned back, the blade leaving a shallow cut on his neck. "Oh, you're faster than he said you were. Maybe he meant for you to kill me instead?" Adam tilted his head to the side, as if he were pondering his question. "Nah." He went on the offensive, slashing viciously at Savage's vital areas. The immortal drew his own blade and fended off the majority of the attacks. He locked blades and shoved Adam back more than a dozen feet. He needed to get the measure of his opponent. The boy clearly believed that sword could kill him. And given that the cut's he'd received were healing much more slowly than normal, it seemed like a possibility.

"What is that sword?" Savage asked.

"Not telling. But if your real question was why you're not healing fast enough it's because of that." Adam said, pointing to the sealed artifact. "The lines of life and death are blurred in its presence. Someone who is physically immortal can die in this place. Of course, an ordinary weapon probably won't do. But this blade is a long way from ordinary." Adam flicked his wrist again and ended up holding a kusanagi. The sickle blade looked wickedly sharp and the weight on the end of the chain was spiked. The chain made a whistling noise as he twirled it. They engaged and broke several times, neither really gaining any ground. Savage was covered in minor cuts and bruises while Adam's coat acted as armor preventing any injuries.

Ra's was watching everything play out from behind the safety of the barrier. Talia was still working on the seal but it seemed like she was making progress. Some of the runes had disappeared and the rest were dimming. That was the good news. The bad news was the large beasts clawing at the outside of the barrier. Not a single one had been killed by the cultists, which meant that ordinary weapons were useless. The creatures paced around the shield, clawing at every conceivable opportunity. Then one of them yelped and jumped away from a fallen necklace, tinted red with blood from its previous owner.

"Daughter, I think we may have an unexpected edge in this fight." He whispered. His eyes focused on Savage. In several hundred years he'd never actually seen the man truly bleed. But he was most definitely bleeding now. "Two edges if you can open the seal before his attention turns to us."

"It's opening father." Talia put the amulet away and put her hand on the unmarked rock. It started folding in on itself, light spilling out at the seams. The shadow beasts shrieked and roared at the light, then it burned them all to nothing. The Spear of Destiny was nearly within his hands and Ra's felt triumphant. That feeling was dashed to pieces by the sudden restoration of the seal. The stone expanded yet again, covering the prize and the runes began restoring themselves one after another.

"No!" Ra's reached for it but his hands met only smooth stone. "Get it back open, quickly." Talia tried her amulet again with absolutely no effect. She pulled several other objects from a pouch on her hip. Rings, wands, ceremonial athame. None of them did anything. But she kept trying. Nigh unlimited power was behind that rock and she'd tasted it.

Deathstroke was not completely ignorant of mythology and he recognized what the prize was here. The Spear of Longinus, the Roman lance that pierced Christ on the cross. A relic so powerful that whoever possessed it became invincible. For the first time in a very long time Deathstroke felt out of his depth. But that changed nothing. He had a job to do, and it was beginning to look like he'd need a prisoner to interrogate. And the one he wanted was Ra's al Ghul. He was the only person present who could give him what he needed. He despaired of helping Savage who was likely near to death. And this man in the coat was looking more and more insane and unlikely to cooperate with him in any capacity. He needed the Demon's Head to find his real target.

"How long have you lived? How many people have you killed?" Adam asked, his breath even and easy.

"Countless." Savage gasped. He wasn't used to continuous pain. He'd usually heal in a matter of moments, but he wasn't able to in this place. "And you'll be one more, you filthy mongrel."

"These are the last moments of your life you freak. I want you to feel human, feel pain and fear and helplessness. I want you to know mortality, realize how much you value your life. Then I'll take it from you." Adam's laughing, mocking voice vanished for a moment. What was left behind was so bitterly cold and sharp that every person in the room took notice. And most of them realized what that brief change meant.

"If I may ask, why do you want to kill him? This is quite clearly personal for you." Ra's asked, hoping to give Savage a fighting chance in order to buy his daughter more time. Adam turned his cloaked head toward the barrier. The shadows covering his face were still opaque but it was quite clear who he was looking at.

"He once funded a certain program under the name Roland Augustus. The same program that you funded under the name Dusan Al-Abayad. Cadmus Laboratory. I was a recipient of their hospitality for years. Project Shift was the designation they gave me. Understand now?" Pieces fell into place for both Savage and Ra's. The research being done by a covert branch of the US government into supersoldiers and biological modification. This wasn't the first time that something from that dark place had bared it's fangs at them. But this particular dog had picked the perfect moment to bite them.

It was then that Sam's plan had come into crystal clarity for Ra's. He set them at each other's throats with a prize too tempting to resist. Then he tipped off this mad dog who came barreling after them when they had stretched their resources and made themselves vulnerable. And in Savage's case even more vulnerable than they knew. But what was his plan to get rid of the winner of this little war?

Savage didn't even have a moment to contemplate anything. Adam was still pressing him every second of the fight. With his vast experience he knew that he would lose at this rate so he tried a riskier tactic. He locked Adam's sickle in the basket hilt on his sword. And stabbed the blade into the stone floor. Then he reached behind his back with his left hand and drew a short curved sword. Vandal Savage slashed with his off hand weapon and cut through Adam's black coat. Adam let out a shocked gasp and leaped back a couple dozen feet, yanking the chain of his weapon. The blade must have been silver, otherwise it wouldn't have breached his armor. And he could feel the heat of his own blood dripping from the cut.

"Oh, just when I was getting bored." Adam flipped back the hood of his coat. His eyes were a burning gold, his hair was jet black. He had blood red streaks under his eyes, trailing down his face. His canines were quite a bit longer than normal teeth, marking him as a werewolf. "Just so you don't think I'm cheating, my ability to heal is also void here. If you can get past my armor I bleed and die like anyone else." He wiped some blood from his chest with his thumb and made a line from the center of his forehead all the way to the bottom of his chin. He folded his hands together, sickle held in the crook of his arm. "But that doesn't mean I won't play dirty." He murmured several words, keeping himself ready to dodge any attack by Savage. At the end of his incantation he flung his arms wide, black feathered wings sprouted from his back. Savage rushed him, pulling a second silver knife. He plunged both through Adam's chest, the blades met very little resistance when they should have grated against bone. Adam burst apart in a mass of feathers. The black plumes swirled around in the air and each feather became a black crow. They perched all around the cave, cawing incessantly and loudly. Each and every one of them had glowing gold eyes. They started flying in circles around Savage, a few of them colliding with Talia's barrier and sending off showers of sparks. Then they started swooping in and clawing at Savage with talons they shouldn't have. He slashed and stabbed at them, injuring and killing a few but it always seemed like there were more to replace the fallen. Then he felt the boy's sickle split the skin across his back. He wheeled around, knives leading. He pierced Adam in the throat, but Adam simply burst into more black feathers. After a few stabbings the air was choked with black feathered birds. Savage was on his last legs and Talia had turned all of her attention to maintaining the barrier.

"Stop hiding you coward!" Savage yelled. Adam, being a werewolf, could literally smell the ancient man's fear. He broke his spell, reforming just behind his hated enemy, and bound him with the chain from his weapon. The metal wound around his arms like a boa constrictor, squeezing tight enough to break bones.

"Who's hiding? I just wanted you to feel alive in your last moments." He killed Savage in one clean but brutal move. He stood over his enemy's body. He felt disappointed. He'd thought this would make his mind settle, that revenge would bring him solace. It hadn't. After a mere moment of contemplation he turned his eyes to Ra's and Talia. "Now, to get what I really came here for. You two get a pass for today if you like. I can hunt and kill you whenever I please. Now, leave so I can open the seals."

"We will not. In my hands that weapon will create a paradise on Earth."

"Hmm what's that smell? Cows? No. More like fertilizer. Oh that's right! Bull-."Adam was interrupted by Talia snapping at him.

"Watch your tongue you miserable sorcerer."

"Miserable? You have no idea. But I'll ask you one last time, out of sheer courtesy. Will you leave, or do I mount your heads on Amanda Waller's fence?"

"We will not forfeit this weapon to a child drunk on his own hatred." Adam moved fast, in the time it took Talia to blink he had his hand pressed to the barrier, his claws making tiny punctures in it.

"You aren't afraid of me. How stupid of you. Do you not know your death when it stands before you?"

"Everyone dies boy, even you." At that Adam let out a harsh and malevolent laugh. He removed his hands from the barrier and raised a hand above his head. The world outside the barrier went dark. Adam had used his magic to create an opaque fog in the chamber. Deathstroke could no longer sit back and observe. The fog had even blocked his mask's night-vision. He was about to jump into the mist and capture the kid in the coat. He seemed to have as much idea what was going on as anyone. But just before he walked into the inky mist he heard a voice echo inside his head and off the cave walls simultaneously. It was the boy's voice twisted with malice and pleasure.

"To kill with guns is child's play.

I have no taste for such as this.

To kill with plants ripped from the clay

would be so vulgar and remiss.

But with a blade so sharp and fine

made beautiful when dripping red.

Yes, now must be the proper time

for me to take your worthless head!"

Deathstroke felt fear pricking his mind like shards of ice. He wasn't really afraid of the boy in the coat. It was a projected emotion, but on a much smaller scale than a telepath could manage. For the first time that night he actually felt somewhat impressed. Combining physical and psychological combat in real time was an advanced battle tactic.

Talia, Ra's, and their troops were not as appreciative of this tactic. They didn't recognize the compulsion because fear had already crept into their hearts with the death of Vandal Savage. Nothing like killing an immortal to strike terror into your enemies. The subtle magic woven through Adam's words took away their fighting edge. They were far too disciplined to simply panic, but their motivation had taken a serious hit. Adam had been raking tears into the barrier as soon as the darkness rose. He was moving inhumanly fast, slicing at the barrier from multiple angles in only a few seconds. He had them turning and looking every which way, except the direction he would approach from. When he made his move none of them were fast enough to interfere. He grabbed Talia, wrapped her arms and legs in chains and hauled her back into the darkness. The barrier fell and Adam let light return to the cave.

"Daughter!" Ra's, so cool and composed, lost his grip on his emotions for a bare moment. His daughter and heir had a supernaturally sharp scythe at her throat.

"Willing to deal now? If I let her go, I get your head and your army goes home. And I make her a puppet that dances when I pull the strings." Adam said. He made sure Kogitsunemaru was just short of drawing blood. And motion on her part, or interference from a third party and she died.

"With power such as yours, why make such a bargain?" Ra's asked, sensing pieces not fitting together.

"I can gain more if you take the deal." Adam said.

"This is true, but such tactics don't seem to suit you. My guess is that you are running out of power. The magics you used were not minor. Surely they must be taking their toll on you."

"Clever, but it changes nothing. Deal is still open." Ra's was far too observant. But that wasn't the only reason Adam wanted the deal. The injury Savage had dealt him was not slight. He was still bleeding. Adam let the blade bite Talia just a little to demonstrate he was serious. But, in truth there was another reason. He'd never really killed a human being before. He'd gone along for years assuming it wouldn't bother him, that he might actually enjoy it. He'd been a fool to think that. Killing the soldiers and Savage had created a tearing feeling inside him. He didn't like the feeling, not at all. He felt like he could endure one or two more such experience and no more. Any more and something inside him would tear open. He didn't understand, but he knew he couldn't let it happen.

"I think I'll call that bluff, boy." Ra's motioned for his troops, about 20 in total, to attack Adam. Deathstroke gunned them all down from further back in the cave. Adam was completely shocked and surprised. No one but Savage, the al Ghuls, and their armies should have been there. He knew exactly who it was that came to his rescue. Deathstroke the Terminator. Someone even he had cause to fear.

"I think I've done enough sitting around. Now the three of you are going to put down your weapons and we're going to have a talk." Deathstroke's appearance broke the high strung tension. Talia moved, just a little, and her carotid artery was cut. Ra's charged in to kill Adam. Adam looked with horrified shock at the blood pouring over his hands. He was wondering why she was dying when he hadn't made a move. Deathstroke fired his rifle and Ra's lost his head, literally. Talia bled out before Adam could shake himself out of his shock. "Well, I guess it'll just be you that does the talking." Adam let Talia's body fall to the ground.

"Not yet, I've got something I need to do first." Adam walked to the sealing stone and placed his hand upon it. Using his magic he took the route Talia would never have thought to take. The seal was drawing power from the leyline running beneath the cave. It couldn't simply be undone. The trick was to take what you needed in the brief instant that the seal opened up. When it opened he grabbed the Spear, it's light dimmed in his hands and he extracted the relic. "There it is. Power over destiny. Power over life and death." The Spear was rather plain looking. Simple wood and steal, nothing ornate about it. If not for the pure light spilling from the spear head, one would never know exactly what it was.

"Kid, before you go and do anything stupid we need to-" Light burst out of the Spear, engulfing Adam.

Adam felt his soul being pulled out of his body and drawn somewhere else. He was powerless to resist, nor did he want to. Peace like he hadn't known since childhood flowed over him. Then, he was standing in a pure white room. The windows were draped, letting in only a fraction of the light from outside. He felt horribly out of place in his black coat. Like his presence stained the place which should have been pure. A light breeze blew through the open window, pleasant scents he couldn't even name filled the whole of his mind for a moment. Then he heard the door open and she walked in. The word "she" could never do Cat justice in Adam's opinion. Cat had been a living breathing miracle in his eyes. That is, when she had been living and breathing. She'd died saving his life. And he'd spent every moment of his life since trying to get her back. And in this place she looked even more beautiful, more good than he remembered. Caitlin O'Brien, the daughter of a 5th generation Irish farmer. She had the red hair and freckles of her ancestors, teeth that weren't quite straight, dainty pointed incisors, and only one dimple when she smiled. Her green eyes matched his perfectly, because when she had died she'd left them to him. She smiled at him now and his legs lost their strength.

"Adam." She said, her voice like one of the heavenly choir. Beautiful enough to bring tears to his eyes. "Didn't think I'd see you so soon. But you went ahead and cheated." she held out her hand and helped Adam to his feet.

"Is this Heaven?" he asked, thinking the place too perfect to be anything else.

"No, it's a place that was specially created for two souls to have a meeting. I was brought here from Purgatory by my guardian angel." She leaned in close. She stopped smiling. "What did you do?"

"I used the Spear. I tried to bring you back." The words didn't inspire joy in her. Not anger either. What he saw in her face was pity. Pity for him.

"You're still the same broken kid you were when I died. Wait, that's not it. You've done evil things, haven't you?" That was her gift, she could read people's hearts. Adam went pale with guilt. "Oh man. You really went a little nuts when I checked out. Did you ever go see what's her name? The empath."

"No. If I'd gone to her I might have sent her off the edge too. Then he showed up. Offered me revenge and the Spear. I couldn't say no."

"You could have. Don't lie to yourself, you had a choice." In life Adam knew she would have smacked him already for being so stupid and self centered. But she didn't. He was beginning to discover exactly what this place had done to her. It had burned away what little darkness she had in her. She had been purified, or was being purified.

"You've changed, Cat." Adam said.

"Well yeah. That's the point of Purgatory you yutz. Of course I'm different." She flashed him a smile that caused him a slight pain. This time it wasn't her that changed, it was him. The feeling of tearing hit him again. But after he felt it the look on Cat's face had changed. She looked worried.

"What?" Adam asked.

"I- I can't say. I wish I could but-" a pained expression crossed her face. "Listen to me. You have to be very careful. Don't kill anyone. If you do, bad things will happen. I know you still haven't forgiven them but you have to let it go" he looked away from her, She knelt down and looked straight into his eyes, "for your own sake." she finished. There was a moment of tension between them, their faces close together. Cat pulled away before the tension escalated. Before she died they'd been falling hard for each other.

"The people I killed were murderers and assassins. They deserved to die." Adam said, a bit sulkily. She turned on him fast, her face shocked.

"I honestly thought you knew better." she said. The she put her hand to his cheek, her warm fingers barely touching him. Pain shot down his neck and burned in his chest. In his mind he felt the last emotions of the people he had killed. Knew their last thoughts. It was agony. What was worse, he saw his victims as human, even the least human of them, Vandal Savage. He heard her words cut through the haze of pain. "All good things are a precious gift. I remember a man who knew that once, even if he could only barely walk into a church." She took her hand away and his shaking stopped. Adam's pain receded but didn't quite disappear.

"You're not coming back with me, are you?" Adam said as much as asked.

"No. But I'll wait for you here. When it's time for you to lay your burdens down, know that I'll be here for you. And for God's sake, find yourself a priest when you get back." Her voice gained a slight Irish lilt at the end of the sentence. "I don't want to find out you didn't at least make it to Purgatory." She gave him a shove and the white room disappeared. He woke on the cave floor, the Spear clutched in his hands. He heard a rhythmic grinding noise. A stone being swiped along a blade. He looked to his left and saw Deathstroke sharpening a huge two handed sword. There were about 40 more corpses there than when Adam had claimed the Spear.

"Finally! Now can we please get out of here? Despite my reputation I don't actually enjoy killing people."

"Alright. But what do you want from me? I'm not handing the Spear over to you." Adam gripped the weapon protectively.

"I don't want it. I just need some answers. And to find Lady Shiva."

"There is no need to look for me." said a female voice from a few dozen feet back in Savage's improvised tunnel. "I have located Vandal Savage, but about 15 minutes too late it seems." She nudged the corpse with her foot. "It appears rumors of his immortality were somewhat exaggerated." Her eyes locked on the Spear for a moment, then she willfully looked away. "Is that Talia and Ra's al Ghul?"

"Those were their names." Adam said, a lump catching in his throat. "Now, I'd like to get out of here if you don't mind. I'm sure Sam didn't just send the location of the Spear to me, Ra's, and Savage. I'm honestly surprised there aren't governmental military on the ground right now-" the sounds of choppers became obvious to his heightened hearing, cutting him off before he could finish. The three of them took off fast, sprinting to the jet that Deathstroke had left in the woods.

"Look, I don't know what's going on between all of you. But are you really willing to kill each other with someone else pulling the strings?" Cheshire was literally standing between the Secret Six and the Suicide Squad.

"Yeah, pretty much." Deadshot raised his arms, laser sights on Cheshire and Sportsmaster. The Secret Six (Deadshot, Jeanette the Banshee, Scandal Savage, Catman, Ragdoll, and Bane) were facing off against Task Force X AKA The Suicide Squad (Bronze Tiger, Captain Boomerang, Count Vertigo, Nightshade, and Virtuosa).

"Listen Shiela" Boomerang said to Cheshire, "we've wanted to kill each other for longer than most wars have lasted. And besides, if we don't kill them the explosives the government put in our heads get triggered."

"Don't tell me, you six have explosives in your heads too?" Sportsmaster asked.

"Actually Senor, we just have a strict policy about home invasions." Bane answered. The large man sounded psychopathically calm in what was probably the most tense situation of Sportsmaster's life. The two groups were standing on a finely cut lawn just outside the Secret Six' headquarters. Sportsmaster was about to give up and let the two teams have at it while he ate popcorn. He wasn't about to die for stepping between these idiots. Cheshire was already backing away.

"Fine, you know what? Go ahead. Most of you can kill each other then the survivors can try to survive the military strike force on its way here to kill all of you." It was a bluff, and a desperate one. But Sportsmaster could lie with the best of them. Both groups hesitated for a moment. Then a shot rang out, putting a hole in Bronze Tiger's throat. And everything started from there. Sportmaster took off running and Cheshire followed. Both of them were shot by Deadshot, just a graze to warn them away from future interference. Then things really went downhill. Explosives detonated, compliments of Captain Boomerang. Blasts of sound from Banshee and Virtuosa, and the sound of fists thudding on flesh.

"You kind of suck at this." Cheshire shouted behind her.

"Shut up and keep running."

"Are you OK, kid?" Slade asked. Shift was pale and sweating, and he was holding onto the Spear for dear life. The wound in his chest hadn't stopped bleeding. There was a small crimson pool on the floor under his seat. Then his black coat turned to smoke and disappeared, leaving behind jeans, a black fur-lined hoody, and a band T-shirt. The marks under his eyes disappeared and the gold glow faded, leaving pale green irises.

"No, probably not. Do you have a medical kit on this thing?" Shift asked.

"At the back of the jet." Slade said, still flying manually until he was sure no one was going to try shooting them down. Shift found the pack and opened it up. He moved to put down the Spear but hesitated for a moment. Then he set it gently on the floor and sighed, as if some painful burden had been removed from his shoulders. He poured antiseptic over the cut and applied antibiotics and bandages. His hand moved to the three small burn marks on his left cheek. They felt warm to the touch but not painful. They were his only scars.

"So, Deathstroke, where are you taking me?" Shift asked, pulling his shirt back on, feeling slightly better now that his blood loss had been slowed. Or maybe because he was no longer holding the Spear. Now that it was out of his hands, Shift felt loathe to take it up again. _It's not for me_ he thought. He left the Spear against the back wall and moved to the front to better speak with his...hosts.

"Our base is on an unnamed island in the Mediterranean Sea. Depending on how things go we will be joined by a few associates. Now, while we have a moment to chat, tell me about the man who sent you on the hunt."

"Younger, short brown hair and white. A little taller and better muscled than me."

"You haven't told me anything yet. Don't describe him, tell me about him as a person." Shift's eyes darkened a little.

"He unsettled me. I just butchered two immortals with only a flesh wound to show for it and he made me very uneasy. The way he spoke and moved, all of them were calculated. I knew he was manipulating me, you get an eye for it after a while. But he knew exactly what to dangle in front of me to get me moving. And he hated my living guts. Believe it or not there are certain emotions that cause the body to produce distinct odors. Hate I can smell from a mile off. He reeked of it. I asked him why he was telling me where such a powerful artifact was. He said that he thought it belonged with me. If I hadn't known he hated me I would have believed him. But that's not what unsettled me. He walked into my tower where I have almost absolute dominion, inside a dimension that only I should be able to access, and he was perfectly confident that he was safe. I breathed much easier after he left." A shudder wracked his spine as he remembered the man's eyes. Cold and flat, regarding him as a snake eyes a mouse just before the jaws unhinge.

"Technically I killed Ra's. But I understand your point. It certainly sounds like the man I'm after. Can you tell me anything else?"

"I'd sleep better if I saw his head mounted on a spear. As long as he's alive it's like there's a sword above my neck."

"It seems arrogant to suppose you, personally, are on his hit list when you've only met him once." The radar on the jet pinged once. Slade dove low into the cloud cover, hoping to avoid detection. Then the radar started beeping rapidly. Dozens of aircraft were converging on his position. He banked high out of the clouds and saw who was coming after him. There were dozens of HIVE combat jets in the air gunning for him. The gunfire started the moment he was visible and he was pushing his jet to it's limits from the start of the dogfight. He answered their machine guns with a magnesium flare rocket that blinded the planes and had a few of them crash into each other. But there were at least 30 more still in the air and heavily armed. Then the alarm went off for his cargo hatch opening. The force field kept the cabin from depressurizing but Shift slipped right through without even slowing down. Slade didn't have time to keep an eye on the boy and dogfight. He picked off two jets with his own machine gun and dove low, forcing the other jets to follow him under the clouds. Then another blip appeared on the screen, smaller than the others. His radar display was 3-D so he could tell the smaller bogey was below him.

All it took was one look out the window and Shift knew Deahtstroke wouldn't be able to take all of them. And with the Spear so close to him he wouldn't survive the explosion when the plane went down. He only saw one way to keep the Spear and his life. So he hit the hatch release and jumped out. The moment he was out of the plane he felt better, stronger. He used his hand to swipe blood off his chest. He redrew the line on his face and recited the spell. Huge black wings sprouted from his back and unfurled. He drew Kogitsunemaru from his pocket and asked it to transform into something that he could use to cut down planes. The switchblade erupted into green fire. It lengthened and curved forming the blade of a large scythe. A green streamer shot out from the end of the handle and made a chain with a weighted ball at the end. He oriented on Deathstroke's jet and flew toward it. This was going to be a long night.

The small bogey was moving more slowly than himself and the surrounding fighters. It appeared that he would leave it behind until it suddenly picked up speed and overlapped one of the larger bogeys. The larger bogey disappeared. Then watching the radar screen became disturbingly like watching Pac-man. After three enemy jets disappeared he swung the jet around, risking being strafed, to get a look at what was going on. " Hey Shiva. The kid's not dead. Yet." Black wings descended on a number of jets and bright metal flashed in the night sky. Pieces of aircraft filled the sky as Shift cut fighter jets, which he discovered, were manned by drones. Several other drones decided they could stand to lose a few of their own if it meant taking out an enemy. The machine guns tore him into tiny little pieces, as well as the jet he had been standing on. "Now he's dead, but he gave us a chance." Deathstroke opened up with every armament he had, missiles, rockets, machine guns, but he kept his measure of last resort. Combined with an impressive bit of maneuvering he gunned down all but one fighter. He oriented on his last kill when he heard someone hailing him over the radio.

"Is this thing on? Frickin' electronics. Deathstroke!" Shift shouted into the intercom making Slade wince.

"Here, deaf, and about to make my last problem of the day disappear."

"No, don't shoot! I'm inside hacking the computer system for information."

"You're lucky I need you alive yet." Then the last enemy jet blew up and the radio cut off. "Shiva?" he looked over at the professional assassin sitting in the co-pilot seat. She held up her hands in innocence. "Then why did the-?"

"-jet explode? Yeah, I'm not so subtle with my hacking and I set off the security. Which was less than friendly." Shift was standing just behind him, smoking lightly and pulling pieces of metal from his hair and clothing.

"Kid, if you ever sneak up behind me again I will kill you." Slade said, his threat sending a chill up Shift's spine. The cold of fear was quickly drowned by the backlash of anger at being threatened. But through time and many hard learned lessons he'd learned to keep his anger under control.

"Understood."

They reached the base minutes later. Deathstroke sat down in the mess hall, seating Shift across the table from him.

"Tell me everything that Sam told you, every tiny detail. Repeat everything you can remember because any detail may be important."

"No." Slade's one good eye narrowed at the abrupt, if nonspecific refusal.

"No? What do you mean no?"

"No as in I'm refusing to cooperate with you on this point. Sam dropped way too many secrets about me in our little chat. About my powers, my past, my family. I can barely stand it that he knows I'd rather pull my own teeth than tell you."

"So it's torture then?" Lady Shiva asked coolly.

"I don't think Wraith would appreciate us taking such extreme measures." Slade said, a slight bit of disappointment in his voice. But Shift had stopped listening after the name "Wraith". The creaking of his joints as his muscles tightened was audible to everyone. Claws pricked the inside of his palms and his canines lengthened. He forced himself to relax. He let go of his immediate anger and took a deep breath. He felt the heat of the burn marks on his neck increase briefly then fade again. It caused his memory to flash back to what Cat had said. He took another breath and let it out slow.

"By Wraith do you mean a man with gray hair, a finely tailored suit, and a temperament like cast iron?" Slade's eyebrow went up, demanding an explanation. "Oh man, if this has anything to do with him things are further down hill than I thought. Last time I saw him I got shot in the back by my partner. Silver bullet. If she hadn't had second thoughts and called an ambulance..." he trailed off when he realized he was going to have to talk with Wraith to figure out what the heck was going on. His instincts were screaming at him to find a bolt hole and hide for a few months.

"Kid I'm losing patience here." Slade was glaring at him but Shift had been intimidated by far more powerful and dangerous people.

"Then lose it somewhere else." Shift waved his hand and Slade dropped through his own shadow. Lady Shiva had Shift on the ground and his wrist in position to break before he knew what happened.

"Bring him back."

"Or what?"

"I break every bone in your arm four times." She strained his arm near to breaking.

"I don't have time for this." She broke the first bone. Then another, and another, then the first one again. Shift barely moved. "You done? I need to pay a visit to your boss." He dropped them both through his shadow. The dimensional transference allowed him to pull free.

Shift wasn't sure if it was the pain or the awkward position he conjured the portal in but instead of coming into his world on flat ground they wound up in trees. Which they hit at considerable speed. Lady Shiva landed only a few yards away from him, unconscious. He knew where Deathstroke was instantly, the world they were in belonged to him. It told him everything he wanted to know. The world's most dangerous assassin was standing just outside the White Tower.

He bound and carried Shiva to the place Slade was waiting.

"I've killed people for less." He said without any pretext. Slade was mostly unarmed but his voice was a sharp as any blade. Shift chose to ignore the threat.

"Did Wraith give you anything? Maybe a business card or something?" Shift asked. Dropping Shiva unceremoniously he stepped toward the older man. Slade pulled a knife, his only real weapon in the world he'd been dropped into. "Let me give you some advice. When you pull a knife on someone, make sure they aren't the ruler of the world you're standing on." Shift raised his hand and the earth around Slade's feet swallowed him up to the neck. Shift walked up to him, knelt on the ground and looked Slade dead in the eyes. Slade hadn't seen anyone look at him like that in a long time. The kid wasn't seeing him, he was looking at a way to get something. And the kid would crush him under foot to get that something. If anyone had been around to see this Deathstroke would have added Shift's name to the top of his list of people to kill.

"He gave me a flash drive with information on Sam."

"I need it for a moment. In return I'll let you return to your own world. Deal?" Shift still hadn't let Slade out of the ground.

"Deal. On my honor." Slade said. And just like that he was standing back on level ground. He tossed the tech to Shift and picked up Shiva. Shift waved a hand and returned them. The small gray plastic stick laid in his hand like a golden key. With material native to Wraith's base universe he could travel there himself. He could have gone there himself but the door to Wraith's shadow had been closed since the first time he'd used it as a portal. Wraith was a very cautious man. He worked the spell and attuned it to the flash drive. It felt like walking through scalding water. He came out on the deck of what looked like an aircraft carrier. But no one was there. He shouted for Wraith. Sirens went off. Turrets appeared from the landing strip and oriented on him. Once upon a time he would have been worried. Now such obstacles were only an amusement. He shouted a Hex word and all of the mechanical systems within reach of his voice shorted out and shut down. Thankfully the engines only sputtered briefly then resumed running. All mechanical constructs operated under the assumption that physical constants would remain exactly that. With a word he could alter those constants for a brief moment. With a word he could bring 200 years of scientific progress to nothing.

"I hope you're capable of paying for that." A voice sounded from behind him. A female voice but it contained the same authoritarian tone. A woman wearing black battle armor like Wraith's stood in the arena's doorway.

"No damage done. They just need a reboot. Now, If you'll point me to your boss I have a few things to discuss with him." Shift turned to face her, hands in the pockets of his sweatshirt.

"I'm sorry, you aren't listed as having an appointment. If you'd like to arrange a meeting I believe I can pencil you in 3 months from now." Her tone was light and mocking. A crooked smile showed on Shift's face.

"Oh, I like you. But I don't have time to play right now." He advanced on her, not so much as flinching when her claws came out. Debra had the file on Shift displayed on her helmet. It was a long file. Apparently he had a healing factor one order lower than her own. And he was a complex personality, one not easily yielding to psychological examination. When she came to his combat capabilities the description was very brief. "Capable of manipulating mystical energy. Full range of application: Unknown. Upper limit of power: Unknown. Recommendation: Incapacitate from a distance or retreat."

"No one gets in without an appointment." Debra charged him. He claws stabbed at a non-lethal area just below his right shoulder. Her adamantium slid through flesh as if it were nothing but air. The illusion dispersed as her fist made contact. Shift was just gone. His scent had faded too. He was no longer in the room with her. She ran back to the office set up in the back of the compound. Wraith was sleeping in the lockdown room just behind it. She punched in the access code and gave her bio-imprint. She cast around looking for Shift. Not seeing or scenting him she sealed the door behind her.

Wraith's door slid open, revealing him fully armored and ready to begin the fight with Sam when he came for his prisoners. "Debra, what is it?" She explained what had happened on the training ground. Wraith sighed and asked her to leave the room. As soon as the door shut behind her Wraith sat down in his desk. "You can come out now Adam." Shift walked from the shadows in the far corner of the room.

"That's one heck of a secretary. Anyway, I think I meant an acquaintance of yours about a week ago. Tried to get me killed. Jeans, T-shirt. God complex the size of Texas." Wraith put a hand to his temple. He could already feel a headache coming on.

"Sam."

"Yeah. But I got the best of him. Vandal Savage, Ra's al Ghul, and Talia al Ghul are dead and I'm still upright." Wraith didn't say anything. He just watched Shift to see which way he was about to spin his little story. "He dangled them in front of me like a piece of bleeding meat. And God help me, I tore into it like a rabid dog. Then your dogs found me and started interrogating me. Once Deathstroke dropped your name I decided it was past time for a reunion. So...what the heck is going on?"

"Your manners haven't improved much Adam. Please sit down, we have much to discuss." Shift took the seat on the other side of the desk, leaning back in his chair. Wraith eyed the young man with the tiredness of a general fighting a war. "Sam is a very powerful individual who wants nothing less than the death of every major criminal and villain in existence. He is willing to kill them himself or manipulate others into doing it for him. I believe you're familiar with that second _modus operandi_. But tell me something. Did he try to have you killed afterwords?" Shift laughed a little and nodded. "Then he regards you as a villain and will not stop until your body is safely separated from your head."

"Somehow I feel like if he catches me he won't be so clean about killing me."

"Probably not." Wraith agreed. "I'm trying to stop him before things get any worse."

"Good luck with that. But since it's my neck on the chopping block I'd like to help get this done." Shift leaned over the desk a bit. "I know you don't trust me and I don't trust you or anyone working under you. But I really do feel obligated to help."

"To save your own neck." Wraith agreed.

"For a number of reasons." Wraith's eyes narrowed briefly. Shift seemed much the same as he had when they'd last met. But there was something subtly different. He set that aside for a moment to focus on more immediate matters.

"I need someone to protect my prisoners. Can I trust that you're willing to do that?"

"Is Sam going to come after them?" Shift asked with some trepidation in his voice. He wasn't as strong as he once was. And he had no idea what Sam could do.

"More likely he'll send someone in to do that for him while he comes after me himself." Wraith had planned extensively for that scenario. Sam was too much of an egoist to do anything else. He didn't just want to win, he wanted to brag while he did it. "But whoever he sends won't be a pushover." Shift nodded his assent to the plan and turned to leave. Then he stopped. He sighed heavily and turned back to Wraith.

"Any idea where I can find a priest?

The chapel was small but very decorative. Original frescos lined the walls, most in the style of the old masters. There was one that caught his eye. A twisting serpent churning the waters of the ocean. And above it was an old man in Jewish style dress holding a sword with a word written on it, _Logos._ The beast had twisted back on itself, it's head pointed at the being in the sky. There was writing all around the borders of the frame. It was easily the oldest painting in the place and the only one in a frame. He could read the writing and what it said made him chuckle. He'd been hoping for a sign he'd been doing the right thing. Seems God had provided.

The light to the confessional was on and he was the only person he could see in the chapel. It was a beautiful place, calm, peaceful, and full of light. To say he was uncomfortable was an understatement. He had to resist the temptation to wipe his hands on his jeans. He just felt dirty. Shift's steel toed boots sounded loud on the stone floors. To his mind it was a ticking clock, counting down to an ending. The door to the confessional booth was very plain, just a wooden door with a handle to be pulled open. He jerked it open and went inside before the twisting feeling in his guts could get the better of him. It was a small room, he hit the edge of a chair with his shin when he rushed in.

He sat in the chair and took a deep breath. "Ok, um. Man it's been a while since I've done this."

"Well, we've got a while before Mass. Just start with, "bless me Father for I have sinned"."

"Ok, Bless me Father for I have sinned, I haven't been to confession in over a decade. Haven't been to a Mass in nearly as long. I guess I should start at the beginning." Shift told his whole story from beginning to end. Then he covered the things he'd done since joining the Justice League. And ended with his killing of the Religion of Crime, League of Shadows, and their respective leaders. It took him the better part of an hour. When he was done there was silence, which made Shift incredibly uncomfortable. This was possibly the most trust he'd shown anyone other than Cat. He'd admitted to heinous crimes and was waiting for his sentence. What was this guy waiting for?

"Um, Father? Aren't you going to say something?"

"Wow." Shift waited for something else to be said but there was still only silence.

"Not to criticize Padre, but I was hoping for a little more than just "Wow"."

"I've been taking confessions for a long time. When Wraith told me you were coming I expected a lot more hatred for the people who wronged you. But, unless you're a very talented actor, I didn't hear much animus against the people who hurt you."

"If I'd come here a couple days ago you would have. But someone I care very deeply about showed me that the people I hated are still people. In retrospect, crow is pretty hard to choke down."

"Yes it is. Did you ever learn the act of contrition?" Shift nodded, then face-palmed when he realized the priest couldn't see him. So he said the prayer, stopping and starting because his memory of it was fairly old. When he was done the priest said the words of absolution. "God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. In penance I ask that you begin a daily prayer of devotion to a saint and attend Mass here today."

"That's it?"

"As far as absolving you of your guilt, yes. But you've damaged yourself. That could take a lifetime to fix."

"What do you mean?"

"In the days to come, you'll see. Now, I believe I have a Mass scheduled in about 10 minutes."

Shift was sitting in the only patch of shadow in Wraith's cell block. That man had imprisoned hundreds of criminals and villains. He'd changed into a cat and curled up in a corner, his unblinking eyes watching every way in. He sat there for hours, contemplating what he'd done since everything had started. Much to his surprise, he felt calm, more settled in mind and body. But he didn't know if that was from his newborn faith, or the knowledge he'd gained from the painting. He shrugged his shoulders apathetically. He'd find out eventually. In the meantime, he had to keep watch on the cells. He nearly jumped out of his skin when an alarm went off and Debra's voice came over the loud speaker.

"Attention everyone in the prison block. Prepare for dimensional transference." Shift's fur stood on end briefly and a wash of heat and light poured over everything. Then everything settled again. Shift walked the shadows back to Wraith's office. Once he got above ground he found a familiar setting. The very place Wraith had trained him. They'd either been pulled there as a place to hide or to minimize collateral damage when Sam came down on them. Knowing Wraith, he'd already thought of both reasons and a few more. Shift could admire him for being a brilliant tactition, strategist, and even his nigh impeccable sense of morals. But most of the time he lacked clarity in battle. He was so busy juggling scenarios that he never played his whole hand. Shift wasn't like that. Maybe it was because he was still young but battle engaged his attention completely, demanded his absolute focus. It set his blood on fire.

Shift padded back down to the cell block and took up his post again. Most of the prisoners didn't pay him any mind, one or two tried to coax him over. He ignored them, like any cat worth it's whiskers. He settled back in the corner and his thoughts turned back to God. He'd never doubted that God existed, not even through the worst of it. To many things lined up too perfectly for mere chance. Like he was watching a play unfold, the whole world dancing to a tune they couldn't hear. That direction, that unseen song had to come from somewhere. But what had he just gone and done? He'd confessed, prayed. Worshiped in earnest. It made him feel vulnerable, like had when he first met Cat. He let himself dwell on that for hours. Then the rudimentary ward he'd laid around the prison went off in his head. Someone had just arrived. And given how searing the burst of pain in his skull had been, whoever had shown up was major league. He used a simple magic to make the shadows cling to him, obscure him from sight. Then they showed up, pushing fully through the dimensional barrier. There were three of them. Black Adam, an avatar of the ancient Egyptian gods. Eclipso, an ancient demon which was once on par with the Spectre. Lady Spellbinder, one of the most powerful illusionists on Earth, was given her powers by the demon Neron. He didn't see Sam anywhere, which was good for him. 3 against 1 was slim odds but 4 against 1 was a guaranteed loss. Although, he may still be a dead man walking, given how powerful each of his enemies were. There was only one way this was going to work, and it mean he was going to take an all or nothing risk before the fighting even started. He changed back to human and called out to them.

"Hey! I'm the guard here, if you want to kill them you go through me first."

"Sending a child to his death for the sake of such miserable wretches. Wraith truly is without honor." Black Adam said.

"That remains to be seen, Champion. But you are honorable. So let's settle this in an honorable manner. The Master of the White Tower issues a challenge of single combat to Black Adam, Eclipso, and Lady Spellbinder. Who will be the first to step forward?" Shift conjured his black longcoat and let his magic flare up around him. He let it cover the cells with a barrier of moderate strength. Sturdy enough to defend against stray spells. It wouldn't do for all the prisoners to die while he was fighting them.

"Single combat? Like hell. Let's just hit him all at once and finish this." Spellbinder took a step forward. But her two companions did not. Shift's challenge had been a binding magical contract. When she stepped forward the contract had been sealed. If they had simply lashed out all at once he would have been nothing but a burned corpse. But Black Adam had been caught off guard. No one had dared to issue a challenge to him in 5000 years. He'd hesitated just long enough for Spellbinder to make a fatal mistake. Eclipso had been too busy drooling over the magic Shift had already produced. It's current vessel had capacity for magic, but with Shift as a vessel, Eclipso could unleash devastation upon whole continents. And so, she hesitated. And Lady Spellbinder had unwitting ly taken his bait. If either Eclipso or Black Adam made a move now, their powers would be greatly diminished.

"You foolish woman. You accepted his challenge." Black Adam sneered. Before Spellbinder could ask what he meant, Shift's voice rang out triumphantly

"This duel will be conducted under Marquis of Queensbury rules." Shift gave the oddly dressed woman a short bow and a smile. He was about 10 feet away from her. He gave her an annoyed look and motioned for her to bow as well. She scowled at him and dipped into a bow and took her eyes of him for just a moment. It was enough for Shift. In that brief moment he closed the gap between them gripped the back of her neck and drove his knee hard into her face. She went down hard, blood streaming from her broken nose. Shift dropped her through her shadow into his world. Now it was 2 on 1. Shift looked at the two of them and chuckled. "I told her, Marquis of Queensbury rules. Who wants to play the winner?" Shift barely had the words out when Eclipso rushed him.

She was faster and stronger than him but he was used to fighting people like that. He turned her momentum against her and tossed her into one of his barriers. The energy was not enough o do more than singe her. But when she came at him again he snapped his fingers and a small ball of light appeared in the air between them. It burned Eclipso when she got close. The demon leaped back, out of the light. She reached out a hand and made a grasping motion. The mini-sun flickered and went out. The moment it did Shift hit her with a massive ball of black energy. Instead of detonating on impact the demon swallowed it down. It was like watching water spiral down the drain. Then before he knew it Eclipso hit him like a freight train. He went down, trying to grab at her head with clawed hands. The demon bit down on his neck. It shouldn't have hurt like it did. A icy painful cold spread from the bite into the rest of his body after a couple of seconds. In five he lost the ability to move his arms, in ten his body relaxed entirely as if someone had drugged him with a paralytic. After fifteen seconds his vision went black and his mind faded. The demon Eclipso pushed Jeanne Loring off of him and inspected his new body.

"If we did not share a common purpose I would tear you to pieces demon." Black Adam said with disgust.

"Oh come now. Is is really so disgusting to you that I would want a perfect vessel?" Shift's face now bore the marks of Eclipso's possession. "Now, on to the slaughter of these pathetic mewling souls." Eclipso dissolved the barriers around the prison cells, reached into the black coat and pulled out a switchblade knife. Then, without warning, he jammed the knife into his own chest, burying the blade in up to the hilt between the forth and fifth rib on his left side. The blade went through his heart. "Wh-what?" Eclipso muttered. Then a voice rang in his head. _This is my body. My soul. Did you really think you could just walk in and sit on my throne? _Black smoke trickled out of the wound around the edges of the blade. The right arm, which was Shift's normal olive skin instead of the pale gray of Eclipso, yanked the knife out and blackness gushed out of the wound. When it was over, Shift got back on his feet, closed his knife, and tuned to face Black Adam.

"Well, so much for the opening acts. Is there any chance you'll just walk away?" Shift asked. He had come up with plans to deal with both Eclipso and Lady Spellbinder a long time ago. He'd been hoping the Sumerian Sun spell would fry the demon, but that hadn't worked so improvisation ahd been required. A spirit-blade like kogitsunemaru had been enough to do a little impromptu exorcism. But he had no plans on how to counter someone like Black Adam. The man had no obvious physical or psychological weaknesses. And there was no real weak point in how his magic worked. If he really did take on this fight, there was going to be a whole lot of pain and he was probably going to lose.

"I think not, child. I have not been issued a challenge in millenia. And I'm going to use your body to remind the world why." Black Adam rushed forward and he drove his fist through Shift's head. The illusion dissipated leaving Black Adam alone in the room. The demi-god turned around to see if the young man had managed to slip behind him. It put his shadow at his back. Shift sprang from it, blade in hand. He struck out with all the speed and force he could. It wasn't enough. Black Adam dodged to the side faster than Shift could register, grabbed his arm just behind his wrist, and broke it with a quick motion. He tossed Shift to the ground like a sack of garbage. Kogitsunemaru clattered to the stone floor. Shift rolled into the throw and came up firing magic at Black Adam. He took the blast full on and hit Shift with a resounding backhand. It knocked him all the way down a corridor.

"Paltry tricks and a dull blade? I have the powers of a god." Black Adam blasted Shift with a lightening bolt. The young magus managed to deflect it, and one of Wraith's prisoners paid the price. Shift flinched inwardly. He threw up a smokescreen and moved fast to the side. He could sense Black Adam but his opponent didn't have the same luxury. While he was distracted Shift used his shadow to draw a complex magical circle just under Black Adam. When it was finished he cut off the smokescreen and put all his energy into the containment circle he'd hastily constructed. It was a powerful combination spell, one that could have bound a god if Shift had been given proper time and resources. But it was shoddy and Shift knew it. He needed all the time he could buy for his ace in the hole. Adam examined the binding with sneering contempt. "Worlds full of heroes and monsters. And I am left to face a mere novice to the ways of magic. Surrender and die with honor. You have no hope of victory."

"If you truly believe that, then allow me time for one last spell. I promise I won't disappoint." Adam sneered at Shift but held position all the same. Hope flared up in Shift. That arrogance would cost Black Adam his life. Shift pulled his hood up and clasped his hands as if in prayer. His incantation was in ancient Hebrew but Adam understood the words.

"If you lay a hand on him, you will remember the struggle and never do it again!

"Any hope of subduing him is false; the mere sight of him is overpowering. No-one is fierce enough to rouse him. Who then is able to stand against me?"  
Black Adam narrowed his eyes. The words were familiar but dim, like something remembered from early childhood.  
"When he rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before his thrashing. The sword that reaches him has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin. Iron he treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood. Arrows do not make him flee, sling stones are like chaff to him. A club seems to him but a piece of straw, he laughs at the rattling of the lance."  
Recognition hit him like a lightening bolt. Cold crept up his spine for the first time since his wife had died. His mind skipped back over 5000 years, he was sitting around a campfire with his father after a long day of fishing. One of the other men around the fire said a word he's never heard before and his father hit him. "Don't speak that name!" his father said. "It might hear you and come for us."  
"The gods will keep that thing far from us." another man had said. But his father only shook his head. He would always remember the fear on his father's face, and the word that had caused that fear. Leviathan.  
Black Adam felt a wave of cold fear and it rooted him to the spot. He looked on in terror as the sorcerer called forth the darkest nightmare of his people.  
"Nothing on earth is his equal—a creature without fear. He is king over all that are proud."  
At the end of the spell Shift stretched out his arms and power rolled out from him like a tidal wave. It swept over Black Adam and both he and Shift disappeared. The darkness cleared and left Adam standing on the sand of a beach. He flew up into the air to see where he was. It was an island, fairly small and surrounded on all sides by water. Ocean water by the smell of it. It was night, stars dazzled his sight, the sky before all the man made lights blocked out the night sky. Like the sky he remembered from 5000 years ago. A crashing wave hit the shore and shook him out of his reverie. But only one wave. The rest of the ocean was quiet. Then it burst out of the water. It's head was larger than the island. When it roared the very air shook around the immortal. Now he knew the reason behind his father's fear. It's body wove back for miles, beyond the horizon of that strange place. The head darted toward him, far too fast for something so large. The black maw opened revealing layered rows of teeth like a shark. But it didn't bite at him. White light glowed from deep in it's throat and built to a nuclear glare. Black Adam had to dive straight down to avoid the fire the leapt from it's gullet. Even though it missed him he could still feel the incredible heat. Like flying near the surface of the sun. That fire might actually be able to burn him. Not because of the heat, but because of the nature of the fire. Power that predated magic, predated the gods that gave him power. An immeasurable weight crashed down on him from above. The blow drove him hundreds of feet below the waves. He recovered and launched his own attack. Hit hit a point on it's body with all the speed and ferocity he cold muster. The scales didn't even crack. As he struck the massive serpentine tail wrapped around him. For all his strength he could not free himself. Then he saw the great head descend toward him at great speed. That cavernous maw lay open before him and his doom seemed sure.  
Then it was over. Black Adam was kneeling on the floor of Wraith's prison soaking wet. Shift was there as well, only a few short paces away. He looked aweful. Pale, sweating, and bleeding from his mouth.  
"Did you see it? Did you understand?" Shift said. He was hoping to get through to Black Adam while his pride lay in pieces.  
"I do not understand. Why did you stop? You had the power to kill me."  
"Yes I did. But I never wanted that. You were supposed to be the Earth's champion and protector. But you thought yourself above them because you wielded the power of a few gods. I wanted you to see that thing because you needed to remember that you are no more a god than the people in these cells."  
"But now you lay spent before me, helpless. Why should I not kill you to keep myself safe from future attacks?" Shift flinched. He knew this was a possibility, and he was truly helpless. Even with the Leviathan's power it had been past his limits to create and maintain a pocket dimension. He had left himself at Black Adam's mercy.  
"I can't tell you not to. But that had been my gamble. Calling you back to the light is more important than my life. And-" Shift hesitated. This next part was going to hurt him, he could feel it. "I knew that if I didn't offer you this chance then I had no right to the one I was given. In a way, I'm being selfish. Even if I die here I die trying with everything I am. And sometimes that's more important than living." He said it as honestly as possible but he knew it wasn't the whole truth. His enemy must have been too much in shock to realize it though.  
"Now what follows?"  
"Not like I can keep you prisoner for the things you've done. My advice is to try making reparations to those you've wronged. And look into some different deities. Yours don't seem to have set you on a good path."  
"That is a very long list to look through. Do you have a recommendation?"  
"There is one name that springs to mind..."

Nightwing looked over the city as the sun sank into the horizon. The beauty was lost on him. He was on the hunt. He leaped from rooftop to rooftop. The underworld had almost nothing to say about this "Sam." Villains were disappearing. Sometimes bodies were found. Other times they weren't. So far it had only been big time supervillains, but Nightwing was afraid it wouldn't stop there. The Question was convinced he wouldn't. He stopped at a warehouse and climbed in through a window. He dropped to a lit corner.

"He will kill all of us!" said the Question. "It's just like Bermuda Triangle '84, all over again!"

"Okay, Vic," said Huntress. "I think it's time for you to sit down." She put her hand in his half led half pulled him towards a chair.

There was some murmuring among the group. They were all used to fighting villains, but not everyone was used to long term gumshoeing with nothing to show for it. Some of them had already begun talk of leaving. They had their own cases that they had been working. These had to be put on hold when Wraith called.

"So what's the plan boss?" asked Artemis to Nightwing. They had already agreed that he should be the team leader, even if the Question was in charge of strategy.

"I think," he said sitting down, "we all need a break. We've been at this for weeks and there have been no leads. So let's try to learn a little about each other. We're probably all roughly familiar with our different backstories, so what did Mr. Wraith do for each of you?"

"Well," said the Creeper, chuckling to himself, "Wraith gave me dating advice." They all stared at him. He looked at them each in turn. "I was chasing a very bad girl. He gave me some very practical advice and now I'm involved with a nice church group." They continued to stare. "There's some very nice girls there who might make excellent wives someday. I've learned to take things slow." They still stared. He lost his patience. "Well, what great things did he do for you guys?"

"He captured every one of the criminals that murdered my family," said Huntress. She had just returned with the Question. "And he helped me see that vengeance wasn't mine to give."

They each went in turn until at last it was Artemis's turn. They all turned to her. She was crying a little. "He saved the world and stopped my husband, Wally, from dying." There was some silence.

"Wow," said Nightwing at last. "It sounds like you owe him the most."

She nodded, and stood up, sniffling a little. "And that's why I'm not quitting. I'll take the first patrol."

Wraith reappeared on the command bridge of his helicarrier. Debra didn't even turn around. "Elektra, the Hand, Wilson Fisk, Mr. Sinister, Magneto, Sabretooth, Mystique, and Apocalypse are all dead, sir."

Wraith's shoulders sagged just noticeably. "Any word from the DC teams?"

"No, sir."

Wraith let out a sigh. "I don't have time to connect with them. They've got two teams working that angle. It's going to have to be enough."

"What's the plan?"

Wraith was silent for a few moments. "Move all of our prisoners to the training facility dimension. Maybe Sam hasn't found it. The nanobots should be done completing the cells. Then gather the Marvel team there. Get them ready. I think I know what Sam's next move is, and I'm not in a position to stop him."

"Some things you just have to do yourself." Sam was outside the Vault. He disappeared through a portal. Soon guards began to fall out of portals a fair distance from the Vault. They looked at each other in surprise. Then the explosions started coming from the prison.

"He just took out everyone in the Vault, Raft, Cube, Prison 42, and the Big House. And that's just naming a few places. We…entrepreneurs are becoming a rare breed. I suggest an alliance." A man wasspeaking at the head of a long table. There were many people seated there. The meeting had been going on for awhile. It was hard to get everyone agree to combing forces.

"What's in it for us?" asked one voice.

"Survival, of course. I believe I know where this Sam character will attack next. I suggest we take him down," said the head man.

"I suppose you want to be in charge?" said another voice.

"Well, it was my idea. Besides, I am the Leader."

Sam appeared in Wraith's training dimension. Due to the magical spells on the place, he had to teleport at quite a distance away. But he had suspected this and had come with a jet pack and space suit. The base was on an asteroid. It was just floating there. There were no other stars or planets to be seen anywhere. Sam suspected that there weren't any. The asteroid itself Wraith had probably brought there.

As he approached it began to attack him. The base launched missiles and lasers. Sam created portals in front of him as he approached. He was able to overcome the spell as long as the portals were near him. The missiles and laser bolts disappeared into them.

He finally made it to asteroid itself. Once he was close enough he made a portal and entered. Inside he found Wraith facing him surrounded by, much to his surprise, villains.

"Are you allying yourself with this scum now? How much did you have to pay them?" Sam accused him.

"They volunteered. My prisons actually make an attempt at rehabilitating criminals. Sometimes we're successful."

"Impossible and irrelevant. You were foolish to bring so many powered beings here."

"We are all here to stop your trail of murders, or die trying."

Sam looked at them all. There was William Burnside (Captain America), ArkadyRossovich (Omega Red), Cain Marko (Juggernaut), Thomas Elliot (Hush), Komand'r (Blackfire), and Galatea. Sam eyed them all.

Suddenly a shot rang out. Sam fell forward, blood coming out of his shoulder. Wraith rushed forward. "Hold it right there," said a woman's voice. Ravager walked in through the doorway, holding a smoking assault rifle. Behind her walked in Abomination, Solomon Grundy, and the Leader.

"Move aside," commanded the Leader, "all we want is him. But we will gladly kill the rest of you to get to him. That bullet stops his powers and I intend to enjoy slowly killing him for all the anxiety he caused me."

Wraith looked at the ex-villains he had brought. They slowly closed rank around Sam.

"Very well, Abomination? Grundy?" The Leader motioned towards the group.

The two behemoths lumbered towards them. "Computer, simulation: Wraith."

"Acknowledged," came a computerized and very calm voice.

Suddenly a green obstacle course and the Hulk appeared, with his back to Abomination and Grundy. He turned towards them and released a howl. Wraith and the villains quickly moved away from the battle.

The Leader turned to Ravager, "Don't let them escape! I'll call in our other allies." She went running after them. The Leader turned to the device on his arm and began punching buttons.

Wraith shielded them from Ravager's bullets and moved Sam with his telekinesis. "Sir, do you want us to engage them?" asked the Juggernaut. Wraith thought about this. He couldn't just run. He was pretty much out of places to run and if the Leader could find and follow him here then he probably could anywhere.

"No, I want you and Galatea to be a last line of defense in case my shield falls. Blackfire, I want you up top ready to provide cover fire if we need it. Hush and Burnside, you go incapacitate Ravager." They moved to their positions. "This can't be all that the Leader has planned. This is too simple and small scale."

As they moved in on Ravager, using Burnside's shield for cover and Hush's bullets to keep her off balance, the Rhino appeared next to Wraith and his team, along with Romulus, Mongal, Amazo, Stryfe, Madelyne Pryor, Nimrod, and the Gentleman Ghost.

"We're in trouble."

"Why haven't you finished off that robot, Abomination?" yelled the Leader.

"Hulk not robot! Hulk is the strongest there is!" He emphasized the final syllable with a punch that sent Grundy flying. "Hulk trains with Wraith. Wraith is Hulks friend! You attack Wraith! Hulk _SMASH!_"

All of Wraith's allies were protected by helmets that shielded them from psychic attacks. So Madelyne Pryor and Stryfe attacked Wraith's shield with telekinetic blasts. The strain brought Wraith to his knees.

Blackfire sensed the danger and began to fire energy bolts at them. They were forced to draw back on their onslaught to defend themselves.

"Are you alright, Mr. Wraith?" asked Juggernaut.

Wraith was breathing hard, still on his knees. "We need backup. Go help the Hulk. You'll take them out faster together. Then go after Amazo."Mongal and Amazo were heading towards the Hulk, smashing their way through the solid light constructs of the obstacle course.

"Yes, sir." The Juggernaut thundered off to support the Hulk.

"Galatea, cover me, and help keep Stryfe and Pryor busy."

"Yes, sir."

"I'm going to shrink the shield to just around me and Sam so I can spare some concentration." Galatea floated up to just below Blackfire and began to lay down suppressive fire with her heat vision. Wraith began to push some buttons on his armor. "Debra, get me everyone you can, both of the DC and Marvel teams, Mr. Stevenson, anybody."

"Yes, sir."

Wraith closed the communication. Staving off the attack from Pryor and Stryfe had taken a lot out of him. He was about on par with each of them, but their combined strength was not something he could handle for more than a few moments. If Blackfire hadn't intervened, they would have broken him and killed Sam.

Amazo was quickly picking up powers and moving towards Sam. The Juggernaut was slowing him down, but that was about it. Hush and Burnside had incapacitated Ravager and Romulus, and were making their way towards the Leader when they were attacked by the Gentleman Ghost. His flintlock pistols and being incorporeal stalled their teleported closed to them and took them down with his walking stick.

Galatea and Blackfirehad managed to take down Nimrod by firing enough blasts that his nanobots fried, but suddenly fell next to Wraith as Stryfe, Madeline Pryor, and Amazo neared him.

"HULK SMASH!" The Hulk came dropping in from above with both fists swinging down. Grundy, the Abomination, and Mongal had been taken down, but so had the Juggernaut.

Suddenly he stopped dropping. Madelyne Pryor's arm was extended towards him. "Physical strength is nothing compared to telekinesis. Once you're off the ground all you have is gravity and inertia to help you. You can't use your strength when there's no ground to push off of."

"You don't have to do this, Madelyne," said Wraith.

"Are you trying to talk me down?" she asked very condescendingly.

"Yes."

"Wow. No one has tried that in quite a while. That's refreshing."

"You were manipulated by Mr. Sinister, and betrayed by Cyclops. But they're both dead now. There's no one to seek revenge against, no one that you need to hurt."

"Scott… Scott is dead?"

"I had Emma Frost and Cyclops in one of my prisons. Sam killed them both for letting Dormammu in and past crimes."

"How do I know you're not lying to me?"

"You don't. I have reinforcements coming in approximately one minute. In that time you could easily kill me and then kill Sam, and probably escape. But then what? There's no happiness for you living like this. Stop this life. It isn't making you happy."

"You can't be listening to this," said Stryfe.

"And what about you?" asked Wraith turning to Stryfe. "Has living your life chasing Cable and Apocalypse made you happy? Why don't you do something positive with your life? With all of your power you could do a lot of good."

"As one of your precious reformed villains?"Stryfe nudged the fallen Juggernaut with his boot.

"No. I will work with you if you want. I will put you on an uninhabited planet if you want. Whatever I can do to help you end this unhealthy and immoral lifestyle, I will do."

"No!" yelled Sam as he pulled himself into a sitting position. "They can't be reformed! They can't be trusted! They'll turn on you! They'll kill more people! They never stop!"

Wraith decided to take a chance. He pulled off his helmet. The face underneath was unblemished, but as Wraith released the illusion, two long scars appeared on it. "I know they can. But God gives us chance after chance to choose the right path. So I will continue to offer them it. I will do all that I can to both help them and protect those they might hurt."

"You let a villain do that to you?" asked Sam.

"No," said a female voice. They all turned. "He let me do that to him. He found me alone in the wilderness. I was a young girl who was angry at the world. He offered me a chance at happiness. I lashed out at him. He didn't even defend himself." She looked intently at Sam. "To you, we're all just villains or heroes. But to Mr. Wraith, we're all people. He'd sacrifice himself to save just one person, even if they still denied his offer. That's why I'm proud to call him Father, and to stand by his side, even if this is our last moments."

"I told you to send everyone else," Wraith said as she drew up next to him.

"And I did. They're coming, but I could get here the fastest. Besides, it's like you said, this would not be a battle easily one with might." She unsheathed her claws. "But I will defend you till my dying breath."

The Leader approached, seeing the standoff he said, "Why do you hesitate? Destroy them!"

Amazo began to move towards them, his eyes lighting up red and purple energy beams surrounding his hands. Suddenly a hole appeared in his chest. Stryfe's fist was pointed towards him. The robot turned to unleash his fury on him, his nanobots already beginning to repair the damage. Then Madelyne Pryor and Stryfe hit him simultaneously. He disintegrated.

"That was poor sportsmanship," said the Gentleman Ghost. "I guess I'll have to do this job myself." He approached Sam, and drew out one of his pistols. "See you in the afterlife."

Suddenly Wraith threw the war hammer that was on his belt. It knocked the specter back. "Impossible!" he said.

It returned to Wraith's hand. "Not really. This is a copy of Thor's hammer. Its makeup is surprisingly similar to Nth metal." The Gentleman Ghost leveled his pistol again at Sam. Wraith blocked the bullet with his telekinesis and threw the hammer again. This time the ghost flew back across the room.

"No!" cried the Leader. "You fools! Sam will kill us all!"

"No… I won't." They all turned to him. Sam looked around him. "I just watched villains willingly put their lives on the line for me, and two spare me on their own accord. This makes no sense. I… I need to figure out what this means." Sam was still sitting on the floor.

"I will make sure that he doesn't hurt anyone else. Besides, the Leader's bullet is blocking his abilities," said Wraith. "He's not a threat to anyone."

"Actually," said Sam, "the bullet went right through me. I just fainted for after I got hit. Once Debra got close enough, my wound healed." He stood up. "I could kill all of you now. But I won't." He turned to Wraith. "I seem to have been mistaken. You can change your ways, and I think I'd like to change mine."

Suddenly all of Wraith's teams appeared. Weapons were trained on the villains. "Woah! Hold your fire!" called Wraith. "No one is fighting." His eyes turned to the Leader. "Isn't that right?"

"There is no viable strategy here. I surrender," said the Leader dejectedly.

Wraith looked around him. "Good. Deathstroke, go tend to your daughter. I believe she is over there. Debra, call for Elixir, I want to make sure no one dies here today if we can help it. Some of you go keep an eye on Abomination and Grundy." He turned to Madelyne. "Ms. Pryor, please let the Hulk down so that he can help with that. They are not very reasonable. It will take time to make them understand that I am being genuine with my offer." He turned back to the rest of his teams. He tossed the hammer to Winter Soldier. "Take some people. Make sure the Gentleman Ghost is either subdued or teleports out. He is over there somewhere." Wraith pointed. "And someone please get Ms. Pryor a robe or something to wear. She must be cold."

There was some commotion. "Mr. Wraith, what are my dad and sister doing here?" demanded Artemis with a look of confusion.

Wraith raised his hands. "Now hold on. There wasn't time to tell you about it. I needed their help. With so much going on here, I couldn't be in the DC universe. A second team had to be sent in."

Cassandra Cain walked over as well, making abrupt hand gestures. Wraith sighed. "Yes, I know. I brought in your mother too. Lady Shiva was also a part of the DC villain team. They all needed a chance to redeem themselves."

"Hey, no one asked you to redeem us. I like myself just the way I am," said Sportsmaster, pointing a thumb to himself.

"Oh, really?" Wraith turned to him. "So you're pleased with having a failed marriage, two daughters that can barely stand you, and a life that is centered on money and other people's respect? Are you really going to say you're happy with how you've turned out?" Then he turned to Cheshire. "And you. You are on the same exact road. What about your mother? Your husband? Your daughter? Do you want to turn out just like your father?" Then he turned to Lady Shiva. "What if you kill every other martial artist? What if you are the best? What then? What kind of goal is that? You'll eventually get old. You'll lose. Or more likely, you'll never be the best and you'll die. Some super powered punk will kill you just because he can, to prove himself to others or to himself that he's the best."

Deathstroke came walking back with his daughter in his arms. "Save it, Wraith. I've had enough of this. I just want to go home."

"What home? A mercenary like you can never have a home. There will always be somebody trying to kill you, for revenge, money, or to increase their rep. That's no way to have a relationship with your daughter or your sons. And she's following you right down this same path."

Deathstroke hung his head. "I'll think about it."

Wraith nodded. He looked at the rest of them. They all avoided his gaze. He'd struck a chord. That was enough for now. Elixir had arrived and was checking everyone that was down. There were no fatalities. They had been very blessed.

The criminals that hadn't surrendered were moved to cells. Wraith had rooms for the others that wanted to stay. Madelyne Pryor and Cheshire had agreed begrudgingly to stay on a trial period, with the option to leave whenever they wanted. The others had declined, at least for the time being. Turning your life around takes a lot and they needed time to think about it. Wraith put the others in a sort of parole program where they would always be watched with the understanding that, if they continued in their criminal ways, he would come after them, personally. But his offer of helping them would stand no matter what.

Soon even the heroes were gone. All that was left was Sam, Wraith, Debra, and Shift. Mr. Stevenson had been sent back to check on the two universes to make sure everything was stable.

"I could take you back, Wraith," said Sam.

It was something that Wraith both feared and longed for Sam to say. Going home was all he had wanted for decades, but it meant leaving a lot behind. He looked towards Debra.

"You're going, aren't you?" she asked.

"Yes. But you can come if you want."

She was silent a moment. "No. I'd wondered what I'd do if you ever went back, and I think I'll stay and run the business. Someone has to keep all of these realities in line."

Wraith smiled. "Thank you." He kissed her forehead. "I will visit. Once I'm back in my home dimension, I'll be able to figure out the way back."

"Ready?" asked Sam. Wraith nodded and they both stepped through a portal.

Debra teared up a little. "Okay, what just happened? This needs some explaining," said Shift exasperated.

Debra wiped her eyes quickly. "Mr. Wraith is from another dimension."

"I gathered that."

"Don't interrupt." Shift glowered slightly, but nodded. "He was the only hero. He loved being a hero. He loved the fame, the praise, the adoring crowds, and the power. He'd have minor setbacks, but he never lost."

"But he got arrogant."

Debra gave him a look. "But he got arrogant. It was more about his own ego than helping people. He was doing it for himself, not sacrificing himself for others. Then Sam showed up. Soon there were no super villains, then he killed everyone on death row, then everyone convicted of a murder. He became popular. People were tired of the deaths and the destruction of property that criminals brought. Sam seemed to bring a solution. But Mr. Wraith was jealous. He was losing popularity because he wasn't extreme enough. So when a hostage situation was reported where there had already been one killing, Mr. Wraith raced to beat Sam there, and to stop him. But he was too late. Sam had already killed all of the suspects, and was giving an interview to a reporter. Mr. Wraith lost it. He went after Sam, who simply slipped through a portal. The only problem was, that Wraith followed him. He ended up in the Marvel universe 616. He'd lost his fans, his home, and his wife and newborn child."

"Woah."

"Indeed. So he started over. He realized his pride had blinded him. He focused on putting others above himself, and God above them. He started a company to help heroes be heroes, and not just selfish glory hogs. He also searched out and found technology that could bring him home, but without the locations sequence, he could never choose his home reality. So he randomly dialed locations hoping to guess it."

"How many realities are there?"

"Thousands. He'd visit one and cross it off the list. But now that he's there, he'll know its locations sequence and be able to dial back here."

"What was his wife's name?"

"Mary Jane Wraith."

"Does she have a parallel person here?"

"I don't know. I've never heard of her."

"Although, come to think of it, one of the first things Wraith told me he did when he got Cable 's computer was to go back in time and stop…I don't know, something to do with a deal with the devil and a Mary Jane and a Peter. I didn't really get its significance." Debra shrugged.

"Huh… I don't know anything about it." They were both silent a moment. "So, if you're in charge of Wraith's company now, does that mean you could give me a job?" They started walking towards one of the portal rings.

"Maybe. What kind of skills do you have? Do you have any references?" she asked innocently while she typed in the code for Earth.

"Uhhh…" They both walked through the portal.


End file.
